The Nordic's Worst Holiday
by Evil Kitten1
Summary: Denmark arranges a holiday for the Nordic 5 at a place called De Island, not knowing the horrors that are waiting for them...
1. Where it all began

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Hidekaz Himaruya! And I never played Dead Island so I don't know how much I borrowed… Oh, and the 'De Island' name totally came from Tobuscus's video on YouTube. And THIS video inspired the opening bit of the fanfic… IT MADE ME CRY ;_;

www. youtube watch?v =YQ5c9BzohM4

**EDIT 19/03/2015: I have revamped this entire fanfic to be more user-friendly… I think. I have HEAVILY edited the entire fanfic to the point that even the chapters have been lengthened.**

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><p>Finland panted, back pressing tightly against the elevator wall and gripped the large, bloodied kitchen knife with a fierce hold. The elevator doors opened and he stumbled out still in shock from earlier. In front of him, a hoard of smelly, groaning zombies advanced towards him, raising their arms to ready themselves for grabbing their latest meal.<p>

Tears pricked the corners of Finland's eyes as his whole body shook uncontrollably from the events earlier. He could still remember the atrocities on this island, horrors unrivalled by anything he has ever seen in his long life. But from the shock of his current situation, he simply forgot what happened to his friends. Did they leave him? Did they die?

Adrenaline raced around Finland's body as he shakily held the knife, staring at the rotted faces of the zombies, lights of the room flickering wildly. The elevator doors behind him unexpectedly closed, leaving him trapped.

'_Where did it all go wrong?'_ Finland thought, whimpering, closer to tears than ever.

A skeletal hand reached out, flesh dropping off the bones to touch Finland's hand.

And then his sanity snapped.

He shrieked insanely and slashed at the zombie's hand, only deflecting it away harmlessly before everything blacked out. His knees hit the ground hard, jerking his mind back into reality and forced him to lie down on the floor to play dead in an act of quick thinking.

After a few moments of lying on the ground, Finland's pounding mind cleared when he noticed the hoard of zombies scuffling past him. He drew in a sharp breath and immediately seized the large knife beside his body and leapt to his feet, avoiding the bony, rotting hands as he carried on running down the corridor. His blood and adrenaline electrified his body with every step he took.

But after the long sprint, his adrenaline weakened. However, he carried on stumbling down the corridor, no longer bothering to fight those things and more determined to protect himself like he promised Denmark… Somehow he remembers making a promise to the Dane.

Finland reached the staff elevator, quickly pressing an emergency button and he spun and looked down the corridor, where the walking corpses are at, stumbling a little towards his direction.

"Come on… come on…" he mumbled, wishing the damn elevator would hurry up and-

_PING!_

The steel doors opened abruptly and Finland paused, checking there are no zombies inside, before sighing in relief and he ran in. He even looked up to make sure there are none clinging to the ceiling – but how would they do that? – and held his breath as the hands of those inhuman monsters stuck out, reaching for him, when the doors closed in the nick of time, leaving Finland in the peaceful confine of this elevator…

He took the next few moments to catch his breath and calm his shaking knife-wielding hand. Finland's heart still raced and while desperately wishing that he had never agreed to go to this hellish island…

Only resolve could keep him going now. With the resolve to survive instead of quitting steeling his spirit, he took as deep breath as the elevator stopped. Holding the knife out in front of him, he mentally prepared himself by sharpening his focus and steeled resolve to get out of here alive no matter what.

The doors opened suddenly and he jumped forward, yelling a battle cry and someone else shrieked . A human shriek.

Finland stopped and froze as he finally recognised the person in front of him.

"Eduard!" Finland cried happily, feeling tears sting and gather in his eyes, feeling his heart warm up. He ran towards him with a spring in his step—

Until a pair of rotten hands wrapped around Estonia's neck from behind and a load groan wailed. The man's eyes widened.

"Timo, I'm sorry-"

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><p>24 HOURS AGO<p>

Bursting into the living room of Sweden's house, Denmark excitedly waved a colourful magazine around over his head while his family stared at him.

"Hey guys! Pack your things! We're going on an Island holiday!" he exclaimed.

The other Nordics looked up from what they were doing and stared at the Dane. Finland sat beside Sweden, reading some manga and eating liquorice; Iceland was feeding fish cakes to Mr Puffin while Norway was reading an old spell book.

"…You haven't discussed about your idea with us," Norway said coldly, hated being interrupted from his reading. He was reading a page about vanquishing annoying Danish Vikings. "You haven't even asked us all if we all agreed to go on holiday."

"But an island holiday sounds fun!" Finland agreed with a grin, "it makes a change from going to Svalbard…" At that, Norway shot the Finn a horrified look.

"What's wrong with Svalbard?" Norway asked the Finn, almost sounding offended.

Denmark made a 'pfft!' noise and waved his hand. "Not after that Polar Bear almost ate my leg!"

Norway glared at him. "That's because you stole its food."

"How was I supposed to know that chicken leg belonged to that bastard?" the Dane huffed and crossed his arms.

"B-But it's still a fun idea! I haven't been to holiday at a warm place before!" Finland spoke loudly before an argument could ensue.

"I agree with Finn," Iceland nodded. "We've only been to cold places."

Denmark smiled, looking triumphant. "Awesome! Even Is and Fin agree with me! That's 3 against 2!"

Norway groaned and facepalmed. "Sverige! Talk to him! You know what Danmark's gonna do when he gets to a bar at an island resort!"

Sweden was going to argue against Denmark's idea, but seeing Finland looking so happy about the idea put his thoughts into conflict… Friendship or love? Damn peer-pressure…

"I'll… go anywhere Finn wants," he mumbled. Norway sighed.

"Fine, we're all going on an island vacation… where is this place, anyway?" he asked, frowning.

Denmark smiled brightly. "It's a place called De Island! It's in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and our planes leave tomorrow morning!"

"WHAT!"

He blinked at the synchronised chorus from his brothers.

"What do you mean 'what'? There's only one plane going there per year and it's a recently discovered island! So it only has about 10 years before the tourism industry takes its toll on the natural wildlife and ruin the ecosystem there permanently, so LET'S GET PACKING~!"

Sweden and Norway looked like they want to go slaughter the Dane and quickly stood up together, but Denmark already left the room, singing happily.

"L-Let's get packing!" Finland cheered shakily. "It's a good thing we packed some of our stuff anyway! It IS a shame we couldn't go on our 29th tour of Svalbard… I'm going to miss Den-Bear, y'know?"

Sweden calmed down and nodded, leaving the room to finish packing his things and Norway grumbled, mumbling something about summoning demons to haunt Denmark's dreams.

"That's just great!" Iceland burst angrily. "He could've told us sooner! We'd get ready before today!"

"Unfortunately, that's how Danmark's brain is wired… the fool…" Norway commented, shutting his book with a snap. "Oh well, let's get ready. Are you taking Mr Puffin?"

"Of course I am," Iceland huffed, "Svíþjóð and Finnland will be too busy staring in each other's eyes while Danmörk bothers you, so I'll be alone like always."

The unwitting comment froze the air. Norway stared at him for a couple of awkward moments until he opened his mouth to speak, but Iceland beat him to it.

"Don't deny it!" Iceland started ranting. "We five Nordics make a crowd, but I always felt left out!"

"Ice…"

"Just leave me alone!" Iceland growled and stormed out the room, barging past Sweden who heard the commotion. The Icelandic teen stamped up the stairs until the sound of his bedroom door slamming shut shook the house. Sweden didn't ask, but raised an inquiring eyebrow at Norway, who was, for once, too stunned to say anything. Finland just stood there, feeling awkward and scratching the back of his head.

"…I'm going to pack my things…" Norway mumbled and left the room.

For a few silent moments, Sweden and Finland were going to leave until Denmark ran in, wearing nothing but swimming trunks and a breathing apparatus and comically large diving flippers.

"What's up? Is it that time of month for Island?" he asked, blinking.

Finland only sighed guiltily and looked at Sweden.

"Maybe we haven't been that inclusive with Islanti lately…" he said and Sweden shrugged.

"Things have been the same as normal with us lot for a long time. I feel that Island's still maturing as an individual, so perhaps that's been giving his mind a lot to think about," Sweden explained. While they were conversing, Denmark just watched them with a lot of interest.

"Wait! So is it like Island's going through puberty again?" he asked, suddenly grimacing at a thought. "When it was just me and Icey living together, he was a BITCH to deal with! He started smoking Netherland's cigars while I wasn't looking, and when I caught him he confessed and I only got angry at him because he wasn't sharing with me!"

"Eh?! He did that?" Finland goggled.

"No!" Denmark laughed, "but he acted like he should! The most terrifying part of his growing-up was when he asked where babies came from!"

"Oh, dear god no," Sweden uttered, glaring at the Dane fiercely, looking ready to strangle him on Norway's behalf. The Dane noticed the dangerous look in his expression and felt his blood pressure shoot up.

"I just told him to ask Norge!" Denmark replied quickly, but honestly. "Fuck knows where babies come from! I only know that they come from Valhalla and brought to households carried by Freyja's giant cats!"

At this, Sweden and Finland shared disturbed glances before opting to leave the room silently and pack their belongings for the holiday.

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><p>After the Nordics all packed their things and travelled to the airport, they checked in and were all lead to a private jet by a hostess. They packed frantically earlier because Denmark misread the plane take-off time and only Iceland noticed when he looked at his copy of the ticket. He immediately alerted everyone, thus unleashing a series of Denmark-bashings from the ever-affectionate Norway until they arrived at the airport with minutes to spare.<p>

"SWEET!" Denmark squee'd and hopped on the spot like a child. His eyes sparkled from excitement.

"Behave yourself, Matthias…" Norway mumbled as they all got inside the jet.

"I can't!" Denmark grinned goofily, "I'm too excited! I'm gonna drink my arse off as soon as we go the bars and eat ALL the ice cream!"

Nothing much happened after that besides the Nordic 5 sitting down and getting their seatbelts on before the plane took off. Finland only found it strange that they were put in a small private jet.

"Erm… Matthias, do you have the brochure for this 'De Island' place?" he turned in his seat and asked Denmark who sat behind him next to Norway.

"Huh? Yeah! Here!" The Dane handed over a copy of the folded brochure and Finland's eyes widened.

"…It says 'Deadly Island'," the Finn sweatdropped. He pointed at the title where 'adly' was scribbled over with crayon.

Norway and Sweden both looked in interest and then at Denmark, silently waiting for him to explain.

"Uh… wow! I never noticed! Ahaha… The travel agent has this kid scribbling on their books and they didn't wanna waste money buying new brochures," Denmark laughed nervously. Norway and Sweden shared the same exasperated glances with each other.

"Let's see what it says…" Finland opened the folded brochure and started reading. "'Do you always want to experience an exciting holiday in the sun? Then come to Deadly Island and do shit like karaoke, swimming, sports and relaxing!'" Finland chuckled. "I wouldn't mind doing karaoke! I wonder if they do ice hockey?"

"I'll just relax," Norway commented, earning him a nudge and a cocky grin from the Dane besides him.

"I'll relax with you too! But after I go swimming and beat Sve in a swimming competition!"

Sweden gave him a small glare, but Finland poked his arm.

"Ignore him!" he warned, laughing a little. "We're supposed to have fun! I'll swim with you, Sve! I'll even race you if you like!"

At the back row, Iceland just sat there silently while staring out the window. He just wanted to stay home and read a good book…

'_Deadly Island? If this is some sort of commercial holiday that America started, then I'm not going anywhere warm again. I just want to watch the geysers and feel the volcanoes go off and cause their usual havoc on European airspace…'_ Iceland thought and he stared at Norway's seat which is directly in front of him. When Norway turned to look at Iceland, he glanced away to look out the window instead. He sighed and leaned his forehead against the glass, shutting his eyes.

The jet took off afterwards for a journey into the night. Denmark chattered away to Finland and Norway while Sweden sucked on a boiled sweet from a packet he brought with him. He shared the sweets with them before looking back at Iceland, only to find him sleeping. While the jet was in the air and they're allowed to stretch their legs, Sweden took his own pillow and carefully placed it behind a sleeping Iceland's head, placing Norway's jacket over him to keep him warm. However, dawn cracked in the horizon with its bright rays prompting Iceland to open his eyes slowly and roused him from his sleep, in which he dreamed himself standing outside in a snowy blizzard and a nation smiling warmly at him for the first and last time with the dream finishing with him being in a warm embrace.


	2. Chapter 2

All 5 Nordic nations walked out the jet as soon as the door opened, revealing a true paradise in front of them.

The jet landed on a long, shabby concrete runway built besides the island, but the whole island resort itself was simply amazing. The beach surrounded the entire island but the Nordics all glanced towards the centre of the massive island where there seems to be a building partially obscured by the tall palm trees. There are hundreds of people milling around the beaches, eating ice cream, playing ball games, swimming…

"Woooooooow!" Denmark cheered, eyes almost glittering like the ocean. "Let's go find the hotel!"

Quickly, the Dane dashed off leaving his companions behind as he carried his own bags precariously on his back. Seriously, Norway wanted to know which ancient Norse god birthed such a moron to give him the weird comical ability to carry so many heavy things…

"Whaa! Wait for us!" Finland cried and he ran after him. "You got everyone's bags and our tickets!"

Sweden and Norway glanced at each other and sighed simultaneously. Iceland stood behind them, watching them until they walked altogether down the path Finland and Denmark ran down. They travelled along the wooden walkway and onto the soft white sand of the beach between the hotel and the flight runway. Iceland stopped for a moment to enjoy the feel of the pure, warm white grains between his toes.

"Is?" Norway stopped and turned when he realised his brother wasn't following him. He saw Iceland staring down at his feet, twiddling his toes and disturbing the sand. Iceland looked up and reddened, quickly walking up to his brother.

"L-Let's go before Danmörk destroys something!" Iceland muttered and stormed past Norway.

The three walked down a thin path in the humid forest of tropical trees circling the hotel. The tree casted shadows onto the Nordics, yet when they look up they could see the powerful blades of sunlight slicing through the gaps in the fat leaves. Soon, they reached the hotel which glittered thanks to the various mosaic windows and the walls of the place which are even whiter than the beach sand. The front doors were just blank, tall panes of glass with golden handles on them. But besides the elaborately beautiful flowerbeds, there are tall fountains spouting incredible jets of water in the air, creating rainbows thanks to the suns glare on the cool droplets of water…

"HEY, GUYS!" Denmark burst through the doors wearing nothing but his swimming shorts. "Fin's paid for us all! Let's go the freaking beach! I'll race ya there, Sve!" And then he charged past the three like a roadrunner. The doors opened again and Finland stood there, panting.

"Sorry guys! He booked our rooms already…" Finland said sheepishly as he walked out through the doors. "He got us two rooms…"

"I'm takin' a room with you, Fin," Sweden suddenly said and Norway grumbled in disappointment.

"I'll kill Denmark later…"

"I'll need to get changed anyway… oh, and here's a spare room key for you!" Finland handed over a silver key to Norway, who took it. "There are only two keys per room… and here's a spare key for our room, Sve." He handed another one to Sweden, who pocketed it. Iceland's lips pursed in annoyance at not having his own key.

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><p>Sweden and Finland went to their room on the third floor which is right next to the other room that Denmark booked for himself, Norway and Iceland. They still wondered how Denmark was able to run all the way up here after hiring the rooms AND obtain the keys in just a few seconds flat, but they stopped trying to figure it out otherwise Ragnarok will arrive.<p>

Their room's layout is relatively simple for a hotel room. There's a small balcony outside the glass doors and a double bed next to a couple of bedside cabinets. Opposite the bed there's a tall mirror settled on a desk. Sunlight gently filtered into the room bringing in soft warmth and Finland sighed happily, leaning back to lie down on the bed, arms spread out like an eagle's wings.

Sweden rested his eyes on Finland's peaceful smile as his hand slowly locked the door and hooked the key on the wall. He walked over and sat next to the Fin. He doesn't quite know what to say now that they're alone for the first time in days. His hand caressed Finland's soft cheek and he sighed, leaning into the touch.

"Alone at last…"

A small smile quipped on Sweden's face and he leaned down to kiss his lips slightly. "Ja."

"I feel bad for leaving Peter with Englanti just so I could come here with you."

The bed's weight shifted a little and the Swede leaned down until their noses touched.

"You need a break," Swedish lips mumbled against Finnish ones. "We haven't been in the same room alone for ages…"

"Sve…" Finland breathed and blushed. Sweden moved his large hands until they rested on Finland's hands and their fingers interlocked. He leaned down and their lips brushed against each other. It was gentle at first, but then Finland parted his lips and his tongue tapped Sweden's lower lip, eliciting a growl from the taller male. Sweden's hands moved down and his arms wrapped around Finland's waist, pulling the Fin close to his body and they kissed deeply, personal scents driving each other slowly crazy the longer they kissed and they eventually parted, trying to regain their breaths. While Finland caught his breath, he gasped and backed up quickly when he felt those large hands tracing underneath the hem line of his trousers.

"N-no, I don't think it's a good idea to do it now!" Finland squeaked as he turned bright red, feeling his skin burn where he was touched.

"Oh - sorry," Sweden mumbled and sat down, facing away. "Maybe tonight?"

Finland gulped and crawled over next to his boyfriend. "It's just that… I know we're together, but I just don't feel ready yet… and I know you're always ready, but it's just that I'm not!"

"Mmm."

"Y-Yeah, nations who are in serious relationships usually do it after a few months-"

"It's okay if you don't want to do it," Sweden interrupted and raised a hand to stroke Finland's cheek. "I'll wait as long as possible until you feel you're ready." Finland hugged him tightly.

"Thanks. I was worried you'd hate me," he breathed into his shirt. He felt those bear-like arms hug him back tighter.

"I'll never hate you. I'll always love you."

They hugged for a short while, enjoying each other's warmth and the soft sounds of their breathing. Their bodies rocked gently together, almost lulling Sweden into sleep until he felt the Finn pull away with a smile. "I'm going to check out the sports facility and see if they have hockey matches there! I'll be back in an hour, okay?"

"Okay."

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><p>At the beach, Norway and Iceland arrived and they noticed Denmark already setting up a couple of large beach umbrellas with a huge grin plastered on his face. He spoke up when he noticed the two brothers approach him.<p>

"Hey, guys! I bought a couple of umbrellas to lie under!" Iceland facepalmed and Norway sighed.

"We JUST got here!" Iceland ranted, but Denmark only smirked.

"Let's make the most of this holiday while it lasts!"

Norway rolled his eyes. "We're spending a week here. We can use today just to explore the island. We got plenty of time." Denmark got up and wound his arm around Norway's shoulders with a grin.

"Let's relax together under the umbrella!" Denmark suggested. Norway struggled to get out of his grip in annoyance, but the Dane only laughed and held him tightly.

"Relax~!"

"Let go of me!"

"Never~!"

Iceland growled and turned around to walk towards the hotel. Norway stopped fidgeting and looked over. "Where're you going?"

"Away from you!" Iceland shouted and he ran off.

Iceland stormed into the hotel with the intention of spending the rest of his day fuming over his brother and Denmark, but when he couldn't open the door he groaned, realising that there are only two hotel room keys per room, and Norway and Denmark has the copies. He considered going to Reception to beg for another spare key, but they'd need ID from Ice and his passport is in his room.

"Stupid Denmark… stupid Norway…" he murmured, hands balling into fists in his pockets. "Those two are so in love it's stupid… I wish Mr Puffin was here…"

After a while of standing there feeling stupid and sorry for himself, he decided to just go for a walk around the beach and hopefully find someplace private to brood at. Oh well. He'll find someone to talk to on this stupid island since Mr Puffin bailed out on him at the last minute, saying he's "gone off to find some mates."

"…Maybe… I'll take a stroll on the beach and get an ice cream," Iceland suggested and sloped off.


	3. Chapter 3

Iceland was pretty lucky that he is already wearing a pair of summer shorts, a plain t-shirt and ragged trainers that are comfortable to wear, because the weather was so warm. He wasn't even planning on going for a walk along the beach since he and the other Nordics just got onto the island, but he just wanted to get away and distract himself…

The beach is now crowded to the brim with so many families and couples milling about or relaxing on the pure white sand. Seriously, the sand was as white as snow; it's like winter in a summer paradise. Speaking of summer paradise, Ice spotted an ice cream van.

Ice's hand dove into a shorts pocket, but he forgot to put some change in. He felt such an idiot, standing there in the queue with a bunch of teens who eagerly talked about some water sports activity they just did earlier.

With a huff, he walked away, but to where? He doesn't know this place well. He never even heard of Deadly Island before! Who the hell named it that? Maybe some boring sci-fi nerd group who all established their 'bases' in their parent's basements... Okay, that was a little unfair of him to think that since he remembered that Fin's friend Estonia is a... genius of sorts. Maybe he'll ask Fin to hand him Estonia's phone number so he could ask Estonia to research on Deadly Island, at least so that he knows what hare-brained country owns the island...

Oh great, some little kids are squealing so loudly from all the excitement that it was giving Ice a headache. He only just wanted to sleep at the hotel room, but thanks to stupid Denmark he doesn't have a copy of the room key.

"EEEEEEK!"

"What the Christ... damn..." Ice whimpered and he turned around to see a little girl splashing in the shallow water and some kids backed away from her, yelling loudly.

"I can't imagine myself being that loud when I was a kid..." he murmured, ruffling his hair.

"Help me!" the little girl cried and a few people turned and screamed as they notice a hand covered in sloppy mouldering flesh grab a girl by the ankle. Some people laughed when they notice a plastic shark fin sticking out the water, thinking it's some father with a poor sense of humour trying to make his daughter laugh... Then the head rose out the water and a few people paled and gasped. Iceland stared, eyes widening and his breath stopped.

It was definitely a human head, but the dark hair fell out in clumps as it rose out the water, staining the water red and a staring eyeball suddenly rolled out the eye-socket, snapping the optic nerve like it was an elastic band and plopped into the water. The head opened its jaw and the teeth slowly dug into the little girl's leg, making her scream in panic and the rotting human pulled her, making the girl slip and she splashed face-first into the water, submerging her.

People were yelling and some ran at the person, trying to pull the girl out the water and someone grabbed the arms the attacker, but the arms snapped off like toothpicks and an observer nearby fainted. The men who grabbed the arms shouted in surprise and dropped the dismembered arms into the water with rough splashes. Someone grabbed the person by their head and managed to pull the head away from the little girl, flesh between its jaws as they moved, scrunching the oozing chunk of meat as slowly as a cow eats grass. A man, presumably the girl's father, picked her up and carried her away and frantically asked random people for a medical officer in a panic.

The human (if it can be called that) is very terrifying. Its clothes were ripped and shredded, looking as though they used to be men's clothing, and they were stained red and a sickly yellow colour... and the odour... the odour is TREMENDOUSLY nasty that not even the salty ocean air could disguise it. The man and woman holding the man by his head were overwhelmed by the smell and suddenly let go and back away, flicking their hands about to get the blood off them.

The bystanders horrified at the sight of the man as it stood up mechanically before its legs broke and it fell into the water, groaning loudly as it was submerged before it moved no more, remaining eye staring straight up to the sky through the red water.

People talked and whispered. People brought their cameras out or examining the film they took of the sudden attack. Some were impressed and saying it looked like a zombie while some were crying, terrified at the horrendous sight and immediately ran away. All of a sudden, the information of the attack percolated throughout the massive crowds of beach-goers and some evacuated in a disorganised panic.

All this time, Ice just stood there, feeling his stomach act up from hunger and the rotting smell of what is as bad as a strong of ammonia. He paled before he braved a step backwards and suddenly took off without stopping; heart pounding like one of his volcanoes went off.

* * *

><p>"Aw man! Why can't I sleep with you, Nor?" Denmark complained as his Norwegian buddy put his empty suitcase inside a cupboard. The two got back to their room because Norway threatened Denmark with castration if he doesn't let him unpack his things to look for suncream.<p>

"Because Is is my little brother. It's been ages since we slept together," he replied dully, thinking of his little brother's outburst from today with a sick feeling. "I just want to spend some time with him."

"But I don't want to sleep with Fin or Sve! Well, maybe Fin if we're on our own, but not with that oversized zombie!" Denmark complained.

"Hi."

"AAHHHH!" Denmark screamed and ran behind Norway, shutting his eyes tightly. Sweden stood by the door, stoic expression on his face the same as always.

"It's just Sve, you idiot," Norway hissed before turning to their oversized friend. "What do you want?"

"I haven't seen Fin since we unpacked... He said he'd only be out for an hour, but it's been about two hours now…" Sweden mumbled. Nor detected a hint of worry in his voice.

"You know him. He's probably getting carried away with the hockey equipment…" Norway said.

Sweden just hummed in agreement and smiled fondly a little. He turned to leave when someone suddenly collided into him, winding him and the person fell back to the floor, quickly scrambling to their feet and pushed Sweden inside the room before shutting the door and leaning against it, panting heavily and cold sweat running down their face.

"Is...?" Norway said worriedly and walked over to his shaking brother. He looked so terrified he's shaking uncontrollably.

"B-B-B-B..." Iceland stuttered and tried taking a shaky gulp, but it stuck and he coughed and groaned, eyes shutting tightly. Denmark hesitantly took a step forward.

"What happened?! You look so scared!"

Norway took another step and rested his hands on Iceland's shoulder, looking at him dead in the eyes.

"Hvað gerðist?" Norway whispered and felt his brother calm down a little, but only a bit.

"A-A child was swimming in the w-water... a-and some m-man... I dunno who they are because their face was..." Iceland tried to explain, but his breaths were deep and fast and his skin seemed to be tinged with grey.

"He's hyperventilating," Sweden remarked, glancing at Norway worriedly. "Take him to the hospital wing, there's one not far from here."

"NO!" Iceland gasped, "a m-man bit this child's leg and his limbs were snapped apart!"

"WHOA!" Denmark yelped. "A man chewed off a girl's leg and... wait, that sounds like a zombie!"

Norway glared at him and grunted, wrapping his arms around Iceland protectively.

"That's nonsense. There's no such thing as real zombies!"

"Well, maybe the zombies in Haiti exist cuz of ancient voodoo and all that-" Norway's glare intensified and Denmark shivered, sweatdropping. "Let's get him looked at!"

* * *

><p>Sweden carried Iceland all the way to the hospital wing since he's that strong (Denmark's strong too, but Norway doesn't quite trust him to be as gentle) and they were immediately lead to a spare clean bed by an unoccupied doctor. They were the only people in the hospital wing.<p>

"What's going on, then?" the elderly man asked, taking a glance at the pale boy trembling in Sweden's arms.

"I think he's in shock. He's hyperventilating..." Norway explained as Sweden placed Ice on the bed and rubbed his cheek soothingly. Iceland's skin seemed to tinge grey and the doctor listened close to hear his deep, rapid breathing.

The doctor left and came back with an oxygen tank on a trolley a few seconds later. He wrapped the elastic of the cup-shaped mask behind Ice's head and put the mask over Ice's mouth, giving him a relieving dose of fresh oxygen. Iceland's eyes fluttered shut and he leaned back against the thick pillows, chest rising slowly. Norway held his hand with not much emotion in his face, but they all know he's worried deep down. Iceland's fingers curled around Norway's palm.

Denmark was surprisingly silent and well-behaved the whole time as he just sat in one of the visitor's chairs by the main door, just staring at the ground while chewing his nails worriedly and his body rocked back and forth. Sweden noticed, but didn't do anything and sat on the other side of Ice's bed, looking at Norway's studious expression as it watched Ice's calm face.

"How's he?" Sweden asked.

"Better..." Worry laced his tone like a mother whose worried about her sick child. Sweden noticed Norway's mother-like quality and compared it to Finland's when he's around Sealand... Sweden remembered their union together. It was troublesome for Finland who acted as if he doesn't exist in the house as long as Sweden was married to Norway. The Fin was cold and distant and even disappeared for long periods of time only to turn up on some days drunk and giggling and joking that he dated Denmark while he was away, but of course he never did. But it still made Sweden look like a fool in front of many people, but he and Norway understood that it was their bosses fault for putting them through such hard times... and for a century Denmark was the one who suffered the most from the separation.

"What are you thinking about, Sverige?" Norway mumbled, not taking his eyes off Iceland's face.

"Our union years ago," Sweden replied.

"Why would you think of that? That's all in the past," Norway sighed (with what Sweden detected an underlying tone of anger), "I'm with Danmark, you're with Finland, so we're all happy."

"But I don't know if we are both happy with who we are with," Sweden started, "I'm happy with Fin, but are you happy with Danmark?"

Norway became silent. His thumb caressed the back of Iceland's hand.

"...I love all of you. I love you, I love Island, I even like Finland, Sealand is a good kid when he isn't being a brat… But I do like Danmark, but maybe not as much as I used to…"

"Well what could I do to help save our 'precious' relationship then?" a cold voice asked and Norway paled and turned around. Denmark just stood there. "When we started going out, you didn't seem to have any problems with me."

"Matthias…" Norway sighed and stoop up, "it's not you, but I think it's me."

"Really? You said you don't like me as much as you used to," Denmark growled.

"Yeah, well, whatever it is, it's just me!" Norway raised his voice slightly. "It's nothing about you! It's just me!"

"Maybe you're just trying not to say you want Sverige's dick instead of mine!" Denmark ranted.

"NO!" Norway yelled, "maybe it IS you being such a dick that I'm starting to feel more annoyed than loving of you!"

"Stop it," Sweden warned them and glanced at Iceland. "You're going to upset him."

"He's asleep!" Denmark said.

But when Norway looked, Iceland was gripping his hand tightly as his half-lidded eyes were glazed over.

"…Stop… please…" he murmured.

"Is…" Norway mumbled soothingly and held his hand. "Everything's okay… everything is alright…"

But Iceland feverishly shook his head and tears ran down his cheek and his body rocked wildly. The oxygen mask hid his mouth, but it didn't muffle his sobs.

"G-get this mask off!" he cried in pain and his limbs flailed wildly as if his nerves are electrified, trying to yank the mask off. Shocked, Sweden seized his wrists, but Norway pulled the elastic of the mask and pulled it off. He gagged as he smelt a rotten smell coming from the plastic mask and threw it at the oxygen machine. Iceland breathed deeply as he was sat up on the bed, sounding relieved and he half-leaned on Sweden for support, eyes still shut.

"What the heck just…" Denmark whispered when the scene unravelled. His eyes travelled to the oxygen machine and noticed it was still running. He walked over and flicked at the switch to shut it off. He wrinkled his nose when he smelt the horrible gas too. "Eww! Smells like my underwear on wash day!"

"Are you okay?" Norway quickly asked Iceland as he held his hand.

"B-Better now…" the boy sighed and looked at his brother.

"Still, what the hell just happened?" Denmark questioned blankly. "That gas did NOT smell like oxygen!"

"That's because oxygen shouldn't smell like anything at all…" Norway murmured darkly.

"Is it job-time?" Denmark smirked. Norway nodded wordlessly and the Dane turned and walked out of sight towards the doctors' office.

"…Is it alright to let HIM talk to the doctor?" Sweden asked and Norway nodded.

* * *

><p>Denmark fumed about what Norway said earlier, but he couldn't deny that he noticed the Norwegian was looking as if he was put off by the Dane…<p>

"I'll save the relationship by kicking the doctor's arse for hurting Iceland!" he planned out loud as he approached the door to the doctor.

He opened the door to find a small room with a few desks and computers, but nobody was in.

"Hello~! Anybody in?" he called out with a smirk. "We have a problem with one of the patients… you gave them noxious gas instead of oxygen, so I'll kick your arse if you don't come out~!"

Suddenly, the sound of a chair being knocked down alerted him and he looked at the far corner of the room.

Quietly while smirking, Denmark slowly walked around the desk, readying himself to scare whatever doctor is crawling on the floor, obviously trembling from the awesome aura of Denmark-

* * *

><p>"Do you feel okay, Is?" Norway asked again and he felt Iceland's forehead. It felt normal…<p>

"I'm fine…" Iceland huffed.

Sweden just watched the two, also wondering why Denmark was taking so long to get one person. The now-switched-off oxygen machine was just sitting there. He wondered what that horrible smell was and why it gave out oxygen at first and then that weird smell…

"…Hey, where's Danmark?" Sweden asked.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The three males just blinked and looked at each other, registering the scream in their minds.

"…Dare I go and check on that idiot?" Norway asked.

"GUYS! GUYS! LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!" Denmark screamed and he appeared besides them, looking deathly pale. "THERE'S A ZOMBIE IN THE DOCTOR'S OFFICE!"

Norway growled and he stood up. His patience has reached the end of the tether.

"Danmark…" his voiced oozed dangerously with venom, "there's no such thing as zombies… get it?"

"NOT THIS TIME! I SAW ONE!" Denmark shrieked again. "Quick! Grab Island! Sverige, go look for your wife 'cause we're leaving!"

"I'm not leaving because of you," Norway raised his voice.

A loud groan was heard.

The four males blinked and glanced at each other.

They all peeked around the wall divider.

One of the doctors that they haven't seen before was slowly walking towards them, wearing the normal labcoat, but they had a massive wound on their shoulder. His eyes were blank, mouth agape.

"Th-that's a zombie!" Denmark whimpered, hiding behind Norway.

"It can't be…" Norway's eye twitched, but his heart was beating nervously. The same smell they smelt from the oxygen tank earlier was similar to the man's smell, except it was more powerful and overwhelming.

Someone tugged hard on Norway's arm, but it wasn't Denmark. It was Iceland, who started trembling again.

"It looked like the man who bit that child's leg! Let's go!" he spoke urgently.

"Are you sure?" Norway gulped. Even he was starting to think something was wrong…

Sweden stood in front of them and grabbed a chair.

"What are you doing?! Hitting them in the head is the only way to kill zombies!" Denmark shouted.

The man raised his arms and his mouth opened wider, the flesh of the mouth being very black and rotten. Even his teeth had completely disappeared into the mass of black ooze that dribbled from the mouth and onto the floor.

"I'll have to do this…" Sweden murmured and he walked towards the creature, raised the chair in the air.

"Hit him as hard as you can!" Denmark shouted and Norway covered Iceland's eyes.

It happened really quickly. Sweden brought the chair down with great force on top of the man's head and a loud crunching sound was heard before the zombie groaned and collapsed to the floor, completely motionless.

Norway moved his hand and Iceland stared. Denmark breathed a sigh of relief and stood up.

"Good thing Sweden is strong enough to kill that zombie! Hahahaha!"

"…Did you think I enjoyed killing a human being?" Sweden turned and asked him darkly.

"Wait… Didn't you say you saw a man bite a child earlier?" Norway asked Iceland, frowning.

"Yeah… he just popped out of the water and grabbed the child's leg," Iceland explained, shuddering. Norway hugged him calmly.

"Then…" Denmark's smile faded and he looked at the rest of his family seriously, "that means that we should get out of here as soon as possible!"

"How come?" Sweden asked.

Denmark rolled his eyes. "Duh! When you get bitten by a zombie, you turn into one! And if the man Ice talked about is still around, biting people, then they'll turn into zombies and they bite other people until they become zombies and then the cycle goes on!"

"Okay, let me explain one thing, Danmark…" Norway growled, "so far, we haven't seen ANYONE being bitten and then come back as a 'zombie' because there are no such things!"

Denmark shouted, "but what if we go look for the little girl that Island saw who was bitten? If we find her and she's a zombie, then it'll prove that some sort of disease has changed her into the undead!"

"That's enough!" Norway ranted, "There are no such things as zombies, there won't ever be zombies around and that's that!"

Denmark just stared at the Norwegian and sighed, looking furious, but didn't comment.

"…I'll go look for that little girl. I'll prove to you that I'm not a total nutcase." He said softly. "I'm not always stupid, you know. But you seem happy berating me for every mistake I make, so that's why I always make mistakes…" He walked off until he disappeared from sight.

Norway was still holding Iceland closely, but his grip tightened without realising it until Iceland complained and he let him go. Sweden just looked at the man on the floor in shock when he noticed the body seemingly shrink as steam rose off the flesh until it shrank and disappeared, leaving just the bones and the skeleton behind. Norway and Iceland turned to see what Sweden was looking at and they stared as the flesh melted off the dead zombie like steam.

"…We better go look for an official," Norway murmured and he turned to walk away.

"W-Wait!" Iceland half-yelped, "how come?! That thing nearly attacked us! What are the officials gonna do?!"

"I don't know, but it's the most sensible thing to do right now," Norway explained. "If we sort things out before Danmark tries to justify his stupid reasoning, then we'll spare him the pain of being imprisoned for being an idiot."


	4. Chapter 4

Sweden still stared at the zombie, almost reeling from the bad smell. The sight of the mouldy skeleton in ripped clothes disturbed him greatly to the point he felt his skin crawl. The blood that seeped from its melting flesh turned black as it oozed into a growing puddle of blackness. He stepped back to make sure it doesn't touch his boots… just in case.

And then he thought of Finland and his plan to visit the sports centre. He can imagine him innocently examining sports equipment and a zombie's hand grasping his neck from behind.

"Timo…" Sweden murmured, paling. He immediately turned and almost ran into the two brothers.

"Sverige, what's wrong?" Norway asked. He groaned when he saw the obvious panic in Sweden's eyes. "Finland will be fine! There're no such things as zombies! And besides, he's no damsel in distress! You see a petite maiden, but I see a man who knows 100 ways to tear off your testicles with a rifle!"

Suddenly, an intercom attached to the ceiling crackled into life and made the three jump and look up.

"_Attention, all holiday-goers, I want everybody to return to their hotel rooms immediately because there is a serial killer on the loose on the south area of the island. This killer will only target those who are alone, so please take the shortcuts of the island to the hotel and avoid the main paths and contact with strangers. Thank you for your cooperation." _The cheery announcer said before cutting the noisy transmission off.

The three Nordics looked at each other.

"But… the man that bit the little girl's leg drowned…" Iceland murmured. "He couldn't be alive…"

"Whatever happens, let's get out of here and return to the hotel room," Norway said and turned around, winding his arm with Iceland's. "You better come with us, Sve… you're the strongest in our group in case some moron decides to hurt us."

Sweden just wordlessly tore his gaze off the dead zombie on the floor and followed the brothers out the room, stepping around the dead zombie's body carefully.

* * *

><p>"I'll show Norge I'm not useless…" Denmark sighed. He had no idea where he was going, especially since he just stormed out with a blank mind, blinded by rage. "If I could just find the little girl who got bitten, and then take a picture, then I can prove…"<p>

He stopped and realised he was still only wearing his swimming trunks and sandals. His camera was back in the hotel room. He sighed dejectedly. "Dammit… but I'll still find that little girl! She has to be…" He stopped again and groaned. "She'd be at the hospital wing… that's the only medical place on this whole stupid island! But we were the only people in that place… where could a severely injured little girl be taken to besides the hospital wing…?"

Suddenly, an intercom attached to the ceiling of the corridor crackled into life and made the Dane jump and look up.

"_Attention, all holiday-goers, I want everybody to return to their hotel rooms immediately because there is a serial killer on the loose on the south area of the island. This killer will only target those who are alone, so please take the shortcuts of the island to the hotel and avoid the main paths and contact with strangers. Thank you for your cooperation."_ The cheery announcer said before cutting the noisy transmission off.

Denmark shivered. A serial killer on the island? Bingo! Maybe that's the island's way of saying there ISN'T a zombie attacking people when there actually are zombies around and the authorities are trying to prevent mass panic to hide that fact!

Denmark grinned, proud of his own logic.

"I'll go find the others, instead!" He spun around and ran, but suddenly screeched to a halt when he remembered somebody. "Agh! Fin! He doesn't know about the zombie attack! I better save him! He'll be playing around with sports equipment!"

He spun around and charged in the opposite direction without stopping.

* * *

><p>Finland was impressed by the gigantic sports dome which is built on the north part of the island. There are many people here, watching some matches in separate indoor cages, and some were making new friends and organising teams together. But the Finn thinks that he'll just check out the scoreboards and teams that were already put into tournaments. He can bring Sweden with him tomorrow and they could play badminton together…<p>

Finland thought of their time in their hotel room earlier and he blushed. _'Should I have just allowed him to take me there and then? I mean, I REALLY love him, but I don't know what's holding me back… I'm a trained killer, I could easily fight him off if he goes too far! I know 134 ways of hurting someone's testicles with just a rifle, not counting the Russian Manoeuvre!'_

And then suddenly one of the large speakers in the room crackled, but it wasn't an announcer for a sports event.

"_Attention, all holiday-goers, I want everybody to return to their hotel rooms immediately because there is a serial killer on the loose on the south area of the island. This killer will only target those who are alone, so please take the shortcuts of the island to the hotel and avoid the main paths and contact with strangers. Thank you for your cooperation."_ The cheery announcer said before cutting the noisy transmission off.

Finland gulped and watched as worried people gathered their things and sports equipment they rented and clear out the building in small groups. Should he move? But he doesn't personally know anyone here who could escort him to his hotel room and into the safety of Sweden's arms…

He gasped and panicked when he realised that he spaced out. The room emptied before he realised it! Oh no, what if they locked the doors and shut him in?! What if the serial killer is inside the same room as he is right now and they decide to murder him!?

"Oyaaaah! I'm so stupid! I need to get outta here!" he cried and looked around. But he sighed in relief when he spotted someone lying on a bench on their front. They were wearing a white tracksuit with red splodges on.

"Huh. Nice fashion…" Finland giggled – mainly to calm his shaky nerves. "Excuse me! Do you know any secret shortcuts around this island? They said that there's a serial killer around and I don't like the idea of wandering on my own…"

The man did not stir, much to his confusion. Concerned about their safeties, Finland reached out and shook their shoulder. They groaned. Loudly.

"Ahh! Sorry! But you have to wake up! There's a serial killer around and I really need help… help…"

The man's head turned mechanically and groaned again, except the neck twisted without the body moving. His face was torn off, leaving flesh clinging to the bones. He only has one eye intact.

Finland gasped and stepped back, heart pounding wildly. Seeing the glistening flesh flicked up memories of bloody warfare in his mind like a black-and-white movie. The man groaned and moved onto its feet. Finland froze in the spot. It was like the air and time itself turned staled from the horrible smell that emanated off the man. The zombie's limbs limply hung, but the hands trembled as they rose out towards the Finn.

"O-Oh… crap…" he murmured. "N-no… no… AH!"

In an unfortunate act of clumsiness, Finland stumbled over his own feet and fell onto his rear end. The zombie groaned loudly and reached down, fingers brushing against his hair.

"SHIT!" Finland screamed and he grabbed something within arm's reach and suddenly swung it, smacking the zombie and knocking its head off. The head flung across the room and bounced until it stopped at a pair of feet. The owner's eyes glanced at the blood spots on the floor leading to the body of the decapitated man where it suddenly fell to its side, forever motionless.

"Holy shit, Finland!"

Finland shakily looked across the room and saw Denmark run towards him and drop to his knees besides him.

"Denmark!" Finland exclaimed and dropped his weapon, a long hockey stick, with a noisy clatter and he suddenly hugged the Dane. "Wh-what the hell was that?! That thing!"

"Save your breath, Fin!" Denmark demanded and lifted the young man to his feet. "There are zombies on this island!"

"E-eh?" Finland paled and started shaking uncontrollably. "J-J-J-Just like in Viro's and Amerikka's games?!"

Denmark nodded vigorously. "Pick up that stick and let's get back to Sverige, Island and Norge!"

Finland glanced at the blood-smothered hockey stick on the floor. It is one of those hockey sticks that you use in ice hockey because there's an ice rink somewhere in this sports dome. So it has to be pretty strong to resist a lot of whacking…

"B-but… are there really zombies on the island…?" Finland gulped. "I mean, I don't DOUBT you or anything, but it doesn't seem right! This kind of thing only happens in video games!"

"I hate to say it, but there are…" Denmark grumbled. "Island saw one bite a little girl, we all saw one in the hospital wing but Sverige killed it and now there's this one you took care of!"

"A-And you just came here to tell me?"

"Well…" Denmark laughed bitterly, "Sverige would never forgive himself or me if something ever happens to you."

Finland said nothing as he turned and picked up the hockey stick. He also picked up another hockey stick that was lying around and he threw it to Denmark, who caught it niftily.

"C'mon… let's make the undead deader…" Finland murmured darkly with a sweet smile.

Denmark grinned. "Let's go kick arse!"


	5. Chapter 5

Sweden, Iceland and Norway all ran into Sweden's hotel room and shut the door immediately, locking it. Iceland sighed heavily in relief and fell back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.

"So now what? Will Finnland be all right on his own?" Iceland asked, turning his head to look at Norway as he walked past to look out the balcony doors.

"He's strong. He can manage himself," Norway replied.

"But he's delicate..." Sweden murmured, but not loud enough for the brothers to hear him.

"And what about Danmörk? He may be strong, but he's all brawn and no brain..." Iceland asked.

"He can handle himself. He'll get arrested and put into a cell and be safer there than in this room..." Norway said out loud and opened the balcony door and stepped out in the crisp cool air. He stared out at the glittering ocean and the taste of salty air assailed his lungs. The beaches beyond the tall palm trees were empty save for some people who wandered around slowly, staring straight ahead of them with small groans and raised arms. Norway didn't know he was holding his breath until Sweden appeared next to him and rested a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay. Danmark will be fine," Sweden murmured closely to his ear. Norway continued to stare out at the beach. He could see around 10 people with blood on their torn clothes wandering aimlessly. Even at this distance their ripening moans could be heard.

"But why aren't they running away if they're injured…?" Norway found himself whispering out loudly.

"I dunno," Sweden spoke and turned his gaze to scan the area below the balcony. Their hotel room balcony was directly above a palm tree and the colourful flowerbed it's planted on. He could see nobody else besides the unfortunate humans wandering on the beach, seeming to exhale pained moans that jerked his heart in sympathy for them. Maybe the injured are in so much great pain that taking laboured wobbly footsteps is hurting them? Who could go out there and give them medical treatment if the hotel advised everyone to stay indoors because of some serial killer…?

Silence stilled the whole island. Even the ocean doesn't seem to splash as enthusiastically upon the golden shores as it used to. There were no squawks of seagulls, no joyous squeals of children enjoying their island resort holidays, no thumping of beachballs on excited hands or the burning sizzling sound of juicy sausages on barbeques… Just a deathly silence. It's like the animals living on the island had ran away upon sensing a great evil being born from hell on this isolated island.

Sweden and Norway looked around, feeling increasingly worried for Finland and Denmark. Though they didn't voice their worries, their faces showed concern that only they can read from each other.

"Hey, guys…"

They snapped their attention and spun around to Iceland, who stepped back in shock at their synchronised reactions.

"…It's been almost an hour since we got here… what should we do if the hotel doesn't catch the serial killer? I mean, the police should've flown to this island by now…" Iceland mumbled. He was quiet, but his companions heard him.

Sweden glanced at Norway. They were so worried they forgot about the time.

"I don't think so. I haven't heard any helicopters," Sweden said.

"That doesn't make sense! What country does this stupid island belong to?" Iceland ranted. His face had gone red. "I bet it was that stupid America! He always ruin things and interferes with foreign affairs as if he owns the world! He's as much of a bastard as Rússland by claiming so many countries as his own!"

"Island, calm down…" Norway frowned a little.

"DON'T tell me to calm down!" Iceland shrieked. "I choked on some stupid noxious fumes, I saw a kid get eaten by a man and now we got that… that… THING in the hospital wing trying to eat us! How can I be calm at a time like this while weird things are happening!?"

Norway was taken aback. He's just as confused as his brother is. He simply doesn't know what to say.

"Is… you're not feeling very well, are you-"

"SHUT UP!" Iceland yelled and stormed back inside the room and towards the door.

"Island, no!" Norway gasped and he dove and grabbed Iceland's wrists. The Icelandic teen fought back, yanking his wrists away, but his brother has a tight grip on them. He shouted out his name and tugged again forcefully, making them lose their footing and they collapsed to the floor with the Norwegian brother on top of him. Iceland struggled, eyes absolutely filled with fury as he grits his teeth. His arms quavered from trying to pull away.

"What's wrong with you?" Norway shouted and he was suddenly kicked in the chest and he rolled backwards in a heap, head hitting the bedside cabinet with a thump. Dizzy from the unexpected force of strength, he looked up just in time to hear Sweden shout something as the room door swung open and Iceland made his escape.

"ISLAND!" Sweden yelled from outside. Norway shakily stood up, placing a hand gingerly on his chest where it ached and some warm blood seeped through the material of his shirt - the Norwegian's eyes widened in horror when he pulled his hand away to examine the oozing liquid. "S-Sverige…"

The Swede turned and almost choked in shock and stormed back into the room, quickly placing a hand on Norway's shoulder. He shot him a look with a mix of growing anxiety and helplessness. And then gently, but with restrained haste, Sweden pulled Norway's shirt off and saw a graze just above his stomach. It was only a small graze, but some blood trickled freely from a massive bruise that formed around it. The room is warm, but Norway felt his heart turn into an untouchable block of ice.

"Keep still," Sweden whispered and grasped Norway's hand to place on the wound. "Keep pressin' hard on it!" He immediately looked around and yanked a first aid kit off the wall and snapped it open, but there was barely anything in it.

"Shit!" He salvaged what was left and grabbed a rolled-up roll of bandage and he glanced at the other man. Norway nodded and took a deep breath; he quickly moved his hand away and some blood tumbled out freely, making him whine.

Sweden unravelled the bandage roll and quickly wrapped it around the Norwegian's chest. He used up the whole thick roll, but at least it'll help staunch the bleeding for a while.

"Island…" Norway murmured as his body shook. "Damn, he kicked me hard enough to break a rib…" He sharply breathed in air when he stood up and placed his hand over his chest. "Go… find Island… please…"

"You need the hospital," Sweden said roughly and his arms encircled the young man's torso and under his legs, ready to carry him.

"No!" Norway hissed. "Island's in danger… from those things… please save him… he's my family…"

Sweden shut his eyes and groaned. He doesn't want to leave Norway. Somehow, Iceland kicked him that hard his rib has cracked and is bleeding freely, but Norway's telling him to find his brother…

"All right," Sweden said firmly, "but I'm comin' back for you and we're getting you to the hospital wing."

He only moved the Norwegian so that he's lying back on the bed comfortably, head resting on the pillow. His hand caressed the bangs off his pained face, staring at those deep pools of blue to make sure he isn't making the wrong decision. Then Norway sighed and he propped himself up on his elbows and gave the giant a small shove on his shoulder, prompting him to back up.

"Go already, you oversized zombie."

Sweden's lips curled before nodding and he hurriedly left the room, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

><p>"…So let me get this straight, you defeated a zombie in the hospital wing!?" Finland said excitedly after smacking the head off another zombie with a powerful whack. Denmark stood back-to-back with the Fin, grinning from ear to ear. He faced the zombie of an old man wearing gaudy swimming trunks.<p>

"Yeah! Well, SVERIGE killed it, but I totally ID-ed that thing as a zombie and I told him that the only way to kill it is with a blow to the head!" Denmark pouted and propelled a flying jump kick to the zombie's head, only knocking it back into a large fountain.

"I hope he's all right…" Finland sighed, hanging his head low. "I just left without saying much to him…"

"Pfft! YOU say more than he does!" Denmark glanced around at the swimming pool area, seeing zombies walking at the bottom of the Olympic-sized swimming pool aimlessly. "Hey, they can't seem to climb out of the pool! Should we leave them?"

"Well, yeah…" Finland laughed a little, though he was down… "Oh, we should leave them. They'll decompose, and it'll only be a waste of energy…"

Denmark raised an eyebrow. "What happened? Got into a lover's quarrel or something?"

"No!" Finland's face flushed. "Well… not exactly… We kissed and then…"

"You two had sex on your hotel bed?" the Dane said while grinning at how stupid the zombies looked as they keep bumping into each other in the pool.

"NO!" Finland's face was beetroot-red. "That's… the problem…"

Denmark raised an eyebrow in amusement. "So he's too shy to have sex with ya?"

"…Maybe it's just me…" the Fin hung his head in shame. His grip on the hockey stick was so intense that Denmark thought splinters were going to form. "I think I'm too shy to have sex, but I don't know why, oh but maybe it's because I'm going out with a guy who I REALLY love by the way and-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down!" Denmark sighed and raised a hand to shut up the Fin. "YOU'RE too shy to make any further moves? If you're not ready, then you're not ready, but I am willing to give you advice!"

Finland looked at him with interest. "Yeah…?" He suddenly yelped when Denmark ensnared his arms around his shoulders until their faces were close.

"You gotta touch him with confidence if ya wanna start off the whole process," Denmark grinned at the sight of Finland's face. He raised a hand to caress his cheek and whispered against his other cheek seductively. "Closeness is the key~ he must be able to feel your warmth to arouse him and make it IMPOSSIBLE for him to escape you…"

"H-Heh, Tanska…" Finland smiled nervously, "thanks for helping out, but I don't need-" he pulled away, but the Dane suddenly spun him around and pulled him to his chest in a vice-like grip.

"No, you DO need my advice…" he whispered into his ear. Then he turned to Finland's slightly-scared face with a small smile. "Another top advice; being aggressive is a MASSIVE turn-on for masochists like Sverige! It gives them the promise that sex with you will be powering and refreshingly dominating! Sverige's not gonna top forever, so you should try role-reversals from time to time!"

"…Ruotsi's a masochist…?" Finland blinked. "Hey, you seem to know a lot about Ruotsi's preferences—"

"AND another thing, my innocent little Finny~" Denmark cooed and rubbed their noses together. "Sex isn't entirely pain-free either unless you apply the correct techniques! But even with the right ones there will be SOME pain."

Finland thought it all through over. Even though it didn't completely help him, he did learn a couple of tricks…

But one thing was bugging him.

"Why are standing here, sharing sex advice when the island is overrun with zombies and our loved ones are trapped?" Finland asked.

"Huh. Good point. But if we're the only ones left alive, can I have sex with you?"

"Sure – but only after eating dinner and A LOT of vodka cocktails."

"SCORE!"


	6. Chapter 6

Iceland panted for air as he ran out the hotel and down the front path. Sweat beaded on the back of his neck as his forehead burned and he felt as if someone's gripping his muscles tightly in vices. He stopped just on the edge of the path and stared ahead over the barrier leading to the beach to catch up on his shallow breath.

"Oh man, I h-hurt Noregur…" he whispered to himself. Blood vessels pulsed in his reddening vision with every powerful heartbeat the longer he stared around without blinking. He could not see anyone else around the sandy beach or by the small fountains scattered around. The only unusual things were abandoned picnic baskets and umbrellas left lying around besides red puddles and drag marks and torn bits of clothing…

Wait.

He could smell blood, but the bloody drag marks are too far for the average human nose to detect…

Stomach pounding against his abdomen, Iceland groaned loudly and his hands grasped his hair, pulling it wildly to distract himself from the building, angry pain. He gulped before coughing loudly and he fell to his knees weakly, suddenly throwing up onto the concrete, gagging at the noxious smell. The contents of his stomach didn't hurl out and splatter like normal, it was very watery and jet-black with worm-like creatures wriggling around blindly in the sick puddle; the worms were as long and thin as pencils with a pale white colouring to their scaly skins.

Iceland's eyes pricked with tears and his heart pounded impossibly faster until it could've blurred. His fingers tensed until his veins were visible in the bright sunlight and they dug into the concrete, scratching deep marks in the stone. Oily-black blood trailed from the tips of his damaged fingers until he screamed in realisation and yanked his hands away, staring at them fearfully and then at the puddle of vomit with fright. The weird worms started to crawl out the puddle and onto his exposed toes without him noticing until Iceland felt something sharp bite his skin. He yelled hysterically and leaped and stamped on the worms, but there were a lot of them emerging from tiny fingernail-sized oval eggs in the puddle and they are all seeking him out relentlessly. He kept on dancing on the spot, stamping as hard as he could when he actually felt as if he's flying. Loud, gasping squeals were heard from the worms his sandals killed; the dying squeals sounded an awfully lot like a woman being strangled…

When Iceland stopped his frantic stamping marathon, he breathed heavily, glaring at the dead worms and a few frantic survivors writhed painfully with agonised wheezing screams. The boy listened to their noises and he hissed in pain when his stomach acted up again. He's going to throw up again…

Suddenly, he heard a gunshot and he gulped in panic, instantly regretting holding his breath when the acid-like smell from his mouth assailed his nose and throat. He held back a pained groan and ducked behind some bushes to look around for the source of the noise. It must be the serial killer the intercom person told everybody about…

_Thud, thud, thud…_

Quickly, he threw himself into a leafy bush for cover – to hide. Iceland peeked through the lush green leaves and saw a man dressed up in a black full-body riot uniform; He even wore black goggles over his eyes, hiding half his face. His heavy boots pounded the sidewalk and they suddenly stopped by the puddle of sick Iceland threw up earlier. He looked down and shook his head, clicking the gun that's strapped over his shoulder and held by his right hand. While looking around with a semi-automatic gun pointing ahead of him, the man held up a walkie-talkie and spoke. "Johnny to Prada, I found some evidence of a Level 2 zombie. Permission to hunt down and kill it? Over."

The walkie-talkie crackled. "Granted. Nobody must be infected. The chosen 20 that you killed should be the only ones. Level 1 zombies cannot throw up. They morph immediately while the Level 2s take up to 5 hours before complete transformation. Over."

Iceland could see the man's eyebrows frown above his dark glasses. "How could that be, boss? You didn't authorise anyone to create Level 2 zombies. Over."

"I suppose someone within the group has betrayed us. Just kill the zombie before it bites anyone. Over."

"Roger." With that, the man slid the device into his belt and he glanced around, kneeling low. He murmured out lout, "I'll kill the bastard who infected someone with the second virus later…"

Iceland could hear blood rush around in his ears as low "whooshing" sounds; it was like listening to the ocean within his ear canal. He held his breath, breathing only through his nose, as the man whistled loudly.

"Hurry up and get me, you stupid zombie! I know you're around here somewhere… there's no cure once you get infected, so come here and let me put you out of your misery…"

Iceland thought over the man's conversation earlier. If his face could get any paler, then it just did. He still doesn't believe zombies existed – he believes that because he believes Norway – but after all that's happened, he feels open to accept the fact that he is becoming one of those things, morphing in body and personality until he's permanently a monster with no memories…

His eyes glazed over, but it stung the corner of his eyes and he felt a thick warm liquid trail down his cheeks. His hand gingerly brushed the tears – but they weren't tears. They were droplets of blackened blood. His fingers quivered as they felt stiff from him staring at the strange change. He can't even cry properly.

The man with the gun is now shouting loudly, stamping the ground and kicked some rocky pebbles around. One of them hit a window and bounced off it, leaving a long spidery crack, but nobody arrived to see what was going on. They were all hidden away or dead.

"I don't want to hurt anyone… not anymore…" Iceland whispered to himself, noting how stiff and dry his neck and throat felt. "I'll just end myself before I kill bróðir… I don't want to hurt him…"

He stood up and wobbled out of the bush and stopped, shivering all over. The weather was hot thanks to the lack of clouds in the sky, but he felt like he's living in a freezer.

"Hey…" he spoke with difficulty. It reminded him of the times when he was learning English with Norway; he always struggled with the pronunciations, but Norway would hold his chin and smile and make him look at his lips as he spoke English so his brother could copy him. Trying to speak English is like having a mouth full of hard sweets. Thinking of Norway's rare smile made him cry harder, but he held back his sobs.

The man slowly turned around upon hearing the strangled tone of voice. A smirk crept onto his face as he saw the bloody tear tracks down the Icelandic teen's cheeks, his grey-tinged face, the watery black vomit on his chin and shirt and the bloodied hands. His gun rose up and walked over slowly.

"Hello, little boy, did you get bitten by those scary monsters?" his voice drawled as the cold tip of his gun firmly pressed against Iceland's forehead. "I have a boy about your age. He's not here, thankfully, but after seeing you in this state, I might just take time off and spend more time with him. Too bad you won't ever see your family or friends again."

He didn't say anything as he stared at the dark glasses reflecting his frightful appearance. He thought of Norway and his rare smile and more black tears thickly rolled down his cheeks.

The gun clicked. "Don't worry. At least I'm putting you out of your suffering for good."

Iceland closed his eyes and nodded, shuddering at how fast his heart thudded. His hands clasped into fists as his head bowed and a choked sob escaped from his tight throat. The soldier seemed taken back by the agreeing nod, but then he just pulled the trigger.

* * *

><p>Finland gasped and grasped his chest, eyes widening. He dropped his hockey stick and it clattered on the hard ground.<p>

"Finland! What's the matter?!" Denmark yelped and looked at his companion.

"I… I don't know…" Finland gulped, "I just felt as if someone close to me just died…"

"…No way…" the Dane whispered as he felt his heart constrict. He knows what Finland is talking about; the impending sense of doom when you just know that someone close to you has died. "H-Hey, Fin, maybe it's just the sea air! It gives me nosebleeds!" he laughed lightly, trying to feel better, but the heavy feeling in his heart weighed his soul.

"I don't know why, but I think someone DID die!" Finland cried, glaring at Denmark. "We have to get to Sve and the others!"

"A-all right!" Denmark said, trying to sound brave and determined, but for once he felt like hiding and crying. The intense feeling strangled his conscience. He drew in a deep breath when Finland leaned down to grab his hockey stick and nodded at him as he tried not to cry.

They immediately left the swimming pool area and ran around the outside of the hotel to go inside, but they suddenly stopped and yelled in surprise, nearly tripping over each other and their weapons.

_BANG!_

Finland gasped and Denmark stared in horror. A few feet away from them, they witnessed an albino boy collapse to the ground with a bullet hole in his forehead. In front of him was a man dressed in black armour and holding a gun. They could not see any movement from Iceland.

Denmark's vision reddened and his grip on a spare hockey stick tightened. His rage snapped free his animalistic anger and he screamed loudly. "YOU BASTARD!"

The man's head snapped up when he heard the Dane and his mouth widened in shock. He raised the gun and aimed it at him. "Stop!"

"Stop!" Finland shouted and grabbed Denmark's waist from behind to restrain him. "He'll kill you!"

"Cease movement!" the man ordered and he got out his walkie-talkie. "Charlie to Prada, I found two tourists who witnessed me kill the subject. What should I do? Over."

"Kill them. Over." The device commanded before it got cut off.

"Yes, sir." The man raised his gun and clicked it wordlessly.

Finland whimpered and hugged Denmark, pressing his face against his back. The Dane just glared at the cold, dark glasses with a deathly grip on the hockey stick.

"Don't bear any grudge. This is on my boss's orders."

Suddenly, the body on the floor leaped up at the man and clawed and ripped at his armour, tearing his back wildly and shredding the skin. Iceland bit at the cable-like veins in the shrieking man's back before his fingernails dug into his lungs and effortlessly forcing the ribs apart. Blood poured out in fountain-like jets as he also bit deeply into the spinal cord. He straddled the man as he punched and clawed and yelled wildly like a hungry lion. Blood and body fluids stained his body and clothes. The man still screamed hysterically, trying to grab his gun, but then it got knocked away. Iceland's bloodied hands grasped the man's head and snapped it to the side, breaking his neck and silencing him forever.

Shocked to the core, Finland and Denmark watched the gory scene unfold. Iceland started to breathe and lifted his chin to gaze at his friends, shivering all over. He coughed out a kidney and sighed softly before his eyes closed and he collapsed onto his side into unconsciousness, breathing laboured breaths. Denmark noticed the round hole on his forehead quiver at the edges as pale skin grew quickly until it covered the hole, looking as is the boy was never shot in the forehead. The only thing remained at the gunshot site was gunpowder residue.


	7. Chapter 7

Sweden ran around the inside of the hotel, knocking on doors of hotel room occupants to ask if they have seen his friends, but was rudely shouted at and some people didn't even answer their doors or acknowledge that they're there. Point is, nobody talked to him. He was the only soul wandering around the deserted hotel. The staff members even vanished as their chirpy expressions were nowhere in sight. The lights seemed to be turned off and all the staff computers in the reception area are switched off. It's a good thing that the sun is still out, lighting everything perfectly…

But Sweden's thoughts were plagued with the thought of Norway lying on that bed with a broken rib, and the way he begged the Swede to find his brother instead of getting medical attention…

"Go find Ice…" Sweden grumbled.

Suddenly, the front doors opened automatically with a 'BING' noise and he spun around, heart racing as he thought of the thing he killed in the hospital wing, only to calm down when he saw Finland run in with a tear-stained face. Happiness in Sweden's heart melted away the longer he looked at the Finn's face. His hands seized the younger man's shoulders. "Fin, what's wrong?"

"I-I-I-Islanti…" Finland choked and a few tears spilled down his cheeks, "Islanti got shot by someone but then he stood up and a-attacked the man but then he fell unconscious and I don't know what's going on anymore!"

Sweden soaked the information in, but with difficulty as his pained eyes saw the sorrowful sight of seeing Finland's distraught face. He pulled the smaller male into a tight hug and allowed him to cry onto his chest, slightly rocking their bodies to calm Finland down.

The automatic doors opened again (alerting Sweden and Finland with the annoying 'BING' noise) and Denmark charged through them while carrying a blood-smothered Iceland on his back.

"What happened?" Sweden suddenly asked before Denmark could say anything.

"I'll tell you later. Let's get these two to my hotel room."

"Mine. Norge broke a rib and he wants me to find Island-"

"YOU WHAT!?" Denmark screamed and Finland whimpered, hugging Sweden more tightly. "Let's get him to the hospital wing RIGHT NOW!"

"We can't!" Sweden hissed. "I tried talkin' to people, but they're shut in their own rooms!"

"Not on my watch!" the Dane growled and he barged past towards the stairs. Sweden hurriedly followed him while holding Finland's hand tightly.

* * *

><p>Norway shut his eyes, willing the pain in his chest to go away. He could feel his magic trying to heal his broken rib back into place, but the sharp jabs of pain shooting around his whole body kept distracting him.<p>

"Come on… come on…" Norway whispered and shut his eyes calmly. He murmured the same healing spell under his breath, this time focusing on repairing his rib instead of wincing at the pain.

The hand that he rested on his bandaged chest quivered and felt the bone move ever so slowly. But the pain became too great the longer his magic tried to move it and he gave up, taking deep breaths. At least he got the rib in the right place – it should start healing. He started thinking about Iceland's behaviour earlier, but the memory made his chest ache – in more than one way – and thought of something else instead. Denmark. What an idiot. I hope he doesn't get attacked by those weird things. Finland. That guy scared Russia once. Maybe he'll be fine on his own? Sweden…

Norway thought of the bespectacled Swede and took a deep breath. He can trust Sweden to help him in any way. They were in that old union, after all. He even trusts him more than the annoying Dane…

Suddenly the door opened and the Dane in question charged in the room with panic and anger mixed together in his expression. Norway noticed somebody on his back and he immediately sat up, but winced when pain stabbed his chest and he fell back against the pillows.

"Norge!" Denmark cried and he ran over. "Can you get up? We're taking you and Is to the hospital wing!"

"Island…?" Norway glanced up to face the unconscious boy lying against Denmark's back. Colour left his cheeks. "What happened?"

At that moment, Sweden and Finland followed into the room. The Finn stepped forward. "Someone shot him, but he came back to life and he's just unconscious now!"

"How is THAT possible?!" Norway ranted and slowly sat up, glaring at everyone. "Get him treated now! Take him first! He needs it more than I do!"

"Not until we're taking you with us!" Denmark shouted back. "Sverige! Carry Norge! Carefully!"

The Swede said nothing but walked over and carefully lifted the Norwegian bridal-style, ignoring his complaining. Nobody said anything as they all ran out the room to search for help…

…Finland quickly ran back and locked the door before nodding and running after his friends.

* * *

><p>Iceland couldn't feel anything besides a rotting pain in his whole body. While his vision constantly blurred, he could only hear voices and feel his mouth and jaw pulsing strangely. For some reason, the instinct to bite something overwhelmed his common sense and he sniffed the air – he can smell 4 people. Wait, how does he do that? How does he know the number of people just by sniffing the air and without seeing? Fear gripped him. He's changing. This isn't like when he hit puberty and Norway explained the birds and bees to him (using actual bird and bee puppets for 'the talk'), but this change frightened him to the core. His arms tightened around something - some<em>one<em> – and they exclaimed.

"Hey! I think he's coming round!"

'_Coming where? Who's that talking?'_ Iceland thought, trying to remember who the voice belonged to. He doesn't know why he felt annoyed at the tone of voice, but he's also annoyed that he doesn't know who it belonged to. He KNOWS the voice. He's DEFINITELY heard it before and through his whole life, but who does it belong to…?

And then Iceland's conscience filed through many memories. The faces were blanked out while the memories themselves flashed in dull tones of grey and the sounds within them were shaky and low-quality. The voice he heard talking to him did match the voice in some of the memories, but it sounded a lot clearer now than back then.

"He is? Oh! I could see his eyes opening!" Another voice rejoiced. "Keep going! We're nearly there!"

A chirpy, almost-high-pitched voice? Yes! Iceland KNOWS whose voice it is! It's… the name slipped from his mind and he groaned out of frustration. He DOES know the owner of the voice, but he forgot his goddamn name!

"He sounds in pain. Hurry up. We're almost there…"

A deep, voice that's hard to understand. …No. Iceland doesn't know the owner of the masculine-toned voice either. He wasn't worried.

"Island, hang in there…"

His heart jolted and billions of memories exploded in the forefront of his mind, making him cry out and embraced something more tightly.

Norway! Big brother! That's it! I remember! You and I are brothers…

But then as he remembered the more recent memories, there wasn't a single one that didn't have Denmark in them. Denmark! The bastard who's dating Norway and keeping him away from Iceland…

If he hadn't thought of these people that he knows personally, then he would've lost his grip on his humanity. For some reason, his mouth was right next to a sweet, juicy-smelling neck which got him excessively dribbling... and the urge to bite into it and chew off the creamy, leathery skin, the tough muscles and stringy blood vessels greatly appealed to him…

Iceland was mesmerised by the smell. His jaw slowly opened and his tongue touched the pale unblemished skin as his breath ghosted over it. He heard somebody yelp and he was suddenly thrown to the ground onto his back with a heavy thud. His head ached and he blinked, vision returning to normal and his strange urge melted away as his eyelids became heavy and he fell back into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>"Danmark, you fucking idiot!" Norway shouted as the Dane hurriedly lifted Iceland bridal-style. "I'll rip your head off!"<p>

"He licked my neck!" Denmark shrieked, "he's turning into a zombie! He was going to have ME for dinner!"

"Shut up! We're here!" Finland yelped and suddenly stopped by a corner. He raised a hand to stop his companions and he craned his neck around the corner into the adjacent corridor. There was nobody around except for a dead body right in front of him which had clothes torn off it as well as limbs and the head. "Eww… Come!" He walked around and his quiet companions followed.

The door had deep scratches in it and trails of blood on it, but the handle wasn't touched. Finland noted the oddity, but opened the door anyway and glanced around, seeing a skeleton in the floor and he yelped.

"Sverige did that!" Denmark commented and strolled inside the room. Sweden walked past and shut the door as quietly as possible.

"I don't see anyone…" Denmark said, pacing further down the long room and he suddenly stopped, closing his eyes. Finland looked at Sweden worryingly and he approached the Dane.

"Danmark, what's wrong?"

"Someone's here," Denmark slowly turned around and looked long and hard at a door with a golden plate stuck on it; the words 'MEDICAL OFFICE' are carved on it.

"Of course! Maybe it's a doctor!" Finland whispered. "I wish I hadn't dropped my hockey stick now…"

"Allow me!"

With that, Denmark stepped back and rested Iceland on a spare bed and charged at the door, smashing it open as he threw himself at it and he fell to the floor with a scream. Finland ran in and saw a clean, tidy office which seems to double as an operating theatre as there are complicated bits of machinery and an operating table in the corner; sitting over by a very wide window was a man who was just in his chair, staring ahead of him to the wall and ignoring his massive desk with a computer and many notes scattered on it.

"Can I help you?" he said monotonously. He didn't even look at Denmark properly as he stood up and dusted himself off.

Finland took a deep breath just as Sweden walked inside the room, still carrying Norway. "Uhm… could you check out our friends? One has a broken rib and the other…"

"Timo!" Denmark hissed lowly and quickly put an arm around his shoulders. "Will he seriously believe us if we tell him Iceland's becoming a zombie!?"

But the man heard him suddenly stood up. "Your friend has been bitten?"

The Nordics gave him puzzled looks. The man is wearing an ordinary labcoat over his dull clothes and he is bald with grey stubble on his chin.

The man coughed. "Forgive me, b-but I might be able to help, especially since my team has abandoned the island… My name's Doctor Abe. I'm the head of the hospital wing."

"Pleased to meet you…" Finland suddenly realise how inappropriate it was to be so formal when his friends are seriously injured. "No, he hasn't been bitten… has he?" he frowned and looked at Norway, who shook his head.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Dr Abe said seriously.

"Absolutely," Norway murmured. "He said he only saw someone on the beach that got bitten."

The doctor groaned and pressed a large hand against his face. "This is terrible… they're doing it too early…"

"What do ya mean by that?" Denmark demanded. "What are those things? Are they zombies or not? Where did they come from?"

"One question at a time!" Dr Abe growled. "I WOULD keep this information a secret, but those bastards left me behind to rot away with all the other experiments!"

"Then tell us what IS going on with this island!" Denmark growled, "tell us or we'll throw YOU out that window to get eaten up!"

The doctor looked over at the battered door, but Sweden's eye glinted and he stepped in front of it.

"I'd die anyway!" the Doctor spat. "This island was man-made with a base underneath it where nobody else has access to. We conducted experiments with ancient samples of parasites that we found buried deep in the ground in Iceland." (At this, the Nordics glanced at each other.) "And we needed to know what humanity is dealing with if those things were to ever reanimate, so we created artificial breeding grounds in an air-locked laboratory underground to bring them back to life and we found… MANY things about them…"

Dr Abe looked down at his notes and pulled one out of the pile. "This one is about a parasitic worm that lays eggs inside hosts and eats the flesh and organs. We injected one of the unfrozen worms into a chimpanzee we obtained secretly, and the creature was dead within 9 hours. But it decomposed after about 10 minutes, but it depends on the environment temperature."

Finland gulped and shivered. "H-how did the chimp behave…?"

Norway frowned at the question and looked through the door into the hospital wing where Denmark left Iceland lying on a bed.

The Doctor sighed and shook his head. "The chimpanzee… it turned cannibalistic. We haven't done enough to draw a proper science-backed conclusion, but maybe the chimpanzee tried to eat its companion because it needs nutrients. It did eat the kibble we gave it, but its appetite was ravenous."

"Symptoms! What else does a victim do!?" Finland demanded.

"The experiment vomited blood, which is blackened because of the excrement that the worms leave behind. Sometimes the vomit contains eggs or the actual worms themselves, but they cannot survive without a host… " The doctor frowned. "Why are you asking so much about this particular parasite?"

They all heard a loud groan and Dr Abe immediately grabbed a handgun from his chair.

"You brought one of them in!?" he ranted and stormed from behind his desk, but Sweden stood in the way. "Let me through! I have to kill it before it eats any of us!" A fist suddenly slammed into his cheek and he stumbled back. The gun dropped from his hand and Finland quickly picked it up and aimed it at the stunned man.

Norway shook his hand, but the anger didn't clear from his eyes. "Fucker. That's MY little brother you're talking about."

Dr Abe scrambled to his feet, but he heard the click of his own gun snapping. The safety is off.

"Stand up," Finland asked and the doctor slowly got to his feet.

"Don't you understand?! That boy won't recognise any of you as his hunger will override his instincts!" the doctor cried. "The chimp we infected had a long-time mate and he killed her without even thinking or showing any display of sadness after he ate her! He even chewed her bones! Evidence enough that the boy won't EVER recognise any of you! Has he eaten someone?!"

"As a matter of fact, he did it in self-defence 'cause someone shot him in the head and he came back to life!" Denmark smirked.

"That's impossible!" Dr Abe ranted.

"Well he DID rip out that security guard's intestines and spine!" Denmark shrugged.

"I think it was a kidney!" Finland added.

"Do you have ANY form of treatment that could save my brother?!" Norway yelled. Sweden still held him up – not because of his rib, but he'll kill the doctor before he could even do anything.

"I don't know!" Dr Abe shook his head. "But if you want to spare him from suffering… then shoot him."

"He was shot in the HEAD and he's still alive! Weren't you listening, you dumbfuck?" Denmark growled.

"Treat Ice, then we'll let you go!" Finland demanded. The doctor laughed.

"You don't have the guts!"

The Finnish man glanced at Sweden and Norway both nodded.

"…You wouldn't know this, but my husband there is a sniper," Sweden commented.

Dr Abe blinked. "Say what?"

Finland suddenly fired a shot to the side without looking and the bullet blasted into a photograph hanging above the window. There is now a hole in the face of the man in the photo. Dr Abe took a few seconds to realise how accurate his shot was and he screamed. Denmark seized his arm.

"Think. Treatment. Now." He glared and snatched his own hand away. The doctor slowly walked back to his desk and picked up some notes quietly, looking over them. Sweat accumulated over his forehead as his nostrils flared from breathing heavily.

"Is he hyperventilating?" Finland whispered.

"He better not fake a sickie," Denmark hissed.

Sweden just observed the two silently when he felt someone tub at his sleeve. Norway looked up to him. "Take me to Island. I want to lie with him."

"You can't. He'll try and hurt you," he whispered back.

"Stay besides me then." Norway's deep- navy eyes glinted oddly. "You can intervene in case something goes wrong… besides, those two will be all right."

Sweden glanced up to see Finland and Denmark standing beside each other, watching Dr Abe hurriedly read through his notes.

"Okay…" the Swede muttered and turned to walk out the office.

Finland blinked and saw him leave, but then shrugged and glared at the doctor. "Well? Anything?"

"Give me time… hold on… thinking…" Dr Abe shut his eyes tightly. "The oxygen tank… did this boy use an oxygen tank earlier today?"

Denmark blinked. "He did! He was hyperventilating because he saw someone get eaten so he was really-"

"How long ago?!" The doctor demanded and the Dane jumped in surprise.

"Uh… lemme think… 7 hours…" Denmark nodded as he glanced at a clock hanging off the wall. Dr Abe gulped.

"That means the boy only has 2 hours before he dies," he said sombrely. "We made a gaseous form of the bacteria so that it can be transferred through the air, but only survives for a few seconds, so an oxygen tank is an ideal weapon."

Finland's expression darkened and he raised the gun higher.

"Do you have any treatment?" he growled.

"I looked through some notes and… There actually is…"

"REALLY?!" Denmark yelled excitedly. "Well then! Get it then!"

The doctor scratched the back of his head and looked down at his papers. "There is a small problem… The experimental antidotes are in the underground labs."

"Give us the directions then!" Denmark demanded.

"Fine… but you'll have to hurry… and there is the security guard problem as well…" Dr Abe sighed and pulled out a card from his pocket. "Take this. It'll open any electronically-sealed door on this entire island. And there's another thing too…"

"Hurry up and tell us!" Denmark shouted.

"He's co-operating - no need to shout," Finland whispered and the Dane groaned.

They heard a scratching noise as the doctor hurriedly looked through his drawers of the desk and pulled out two small pieces of paper; with a pen he quickly scribbled a number on the blank piece of paper. "This is the number of the biohazard lab and the letter shows you which box the actual vial is contained in."

Denmark raised an eyebrow. "You ain't staying here! You're coming with me and the guys to find the stupid medicine!"

The doctor gulped. "B-but that boy needs a doctor to watch over him…"

Denmark lunged to the desk and snatched up something hidden behind the computer and smirked, holding up a walkie-talkie. "We could communicate with each other like this!"

"Fine!" Dr Abe snapped and snatched the device away. "But don't blame me if you get eaten on the way!"

"What if YOU want to escape from this island!?" Finland ranted, getting impatient. "Once we cure our friend, then we can find a way off this island! We'll even forget that you're responsible for his sickness and let you go live another life!"

"Doctor Abe."

Everybody turned to the door where Norway stood with an unreadable expression across his face.

"Berwald and I will stay here to watch over Eirík," he said, "and Matthias and Timo will accompany you down to the labs and then you WILL return with the cure. Agreed?"

"But why these two? You can't rely on your fists to destroy the head of a zombie and that gun only has 6 – well, 5 bullets left in it!" The doctor sweated profusely. "Who knows there are other zombies in the underground labs?! Even without them wandering around, it'll take us at least 20 minutes to locate the lab itself from up here, and then 5 minutes to find the vial, and another 20 minutes to get back up here… by then, we'd only have an hour left, but even then the zombification process will be almost irreversible!"

"Matthias," Norway barked and Denmark jumped and stood up straight like a soldier. "Use anything that can bludgeon a zombie."

Denmark glanced around the room and smirked. He picked up a crutch standing against the wall and swung it experimentally. "Sturdy – like it should be!"

"And Timo…" At this, Finland turned towards him. "Use those bullets wisely and if you absolutely need to use them."

"M-May I interject?" Everybody looked at the doctor. "With every zombie we experimented on, they've always reacted to sound, but after a long period of time their senses are useless and will bite anything blindly… their vision is the first sense to deteriorate, by the way."

Finland sighed. "Then I can't use my gun in case it attracts fresh zombies!"

"Don't worry, Timo!" Denmark declared as he lifted another crutch. "You can have this one!" Finland smiled brightly and swung it.

"So are you all ready? My brother's life depends on that medicine…" Norway said bitterly. Denmark and Finland glanced at each other and they both stepped forward and suddenly hugged the young man, making him complain. "Get off. If you have time to hug me, then go and help save my brother!"

"You can depend on us, Lukas!" Denmark smiled. "I promise that I'll get every one of us off this island alive and healthy!"

They all turned to the doctor who was putting various things in a backpack hurriedly. They noticed a sandwich box and a first-aid kit being stuffed inside along with some bandages. A couple of plastic bottles were also thrown in.

"You certainly need me with you, boys, I know this place better than any of you do!" he said determinedly and held up another pistol. Immediately, Finland raised his own, but the doctor did nothing but placed his pistol in his belt holster. "Don't think I'm doing all the zombie-killing. I'm not as physically capable as I used to be when I was young. I already lived my life until I got this stupid job. I may as well live my last days as a rebel."


	8. Chapter 8

Finland and Denmark opened the Hospital Wing door and slowly stepped outside, looking around. Dr Abe followed them out, glancing nervously.

"It's strangely clear…" he murmured.

"What do ya mean?" Denmark asked and swung the crutch over his shoulder. "No zombies around is a good thing, right? Somebody else must be killing them!"

"But… I suppose that's a possibility…" Dr Abe's expression darkened. "The project was set on this holiday island so that people would NEVER prepare themselves for battle."

"Makes sense – we didn't think we would be fighting the undead!" Finland commented with a giggle.

"So why are you worried?" Denmark asked. "Uh… which way do we go?"

"Let me lead the way," the doctor said gruffly and stomped past the Dane to the south-facing corridor. "I'm more worried that they are pursuing somebody who didn't know that keeping quiet could save their life."

"I hope they get away in time…" Finland prayed quietly and he followed his companions.

* * *

><p>Norway rested a hand on his chest where his rib is healing properly thanks to his magic, but his chest still ached as he watched his younger brother sleeping.<p>

Iceland's skin still tinged with a light-green colour, but random parts of his skin paled and softened, peeling themselves at a snails' pace and curled before disconnecting from the skin and roll off onto the floor. Norway and Sweden took it upon themselves to take the boy's shirt off as his temperature was abnormally high, but even then the Icelandic teen didn't cool off. Despite him sleeping, the boy panted and shivered all over as if he was in a nightmare worse than this one.

"…Will antiseptic cream be alright to use on those sores?" Norway suddenly asked. His hand was holding Iceland's burning, twitching fingers.

"Not sure," Sweden murmured, watching Iceland's eyelids move as if something is crawling under them… "How can ya sleep knowin' you have parasites inside of you?"

"…I'm getting some antiseptic cream for the sores." Norway reluctantly let go of his brother's hand, but he pulled his hand away and walked into the doctor's office, when he paused and remembered something.

* * *

><p>For a short while, Denmark and Finland followed Dr Abe throughout the hotel, walking past other hotel rooms and calm potted plants between them, but they did not encounter a single zombie. Dr Abe seemed furious as he looked around and his nostrils flared as he huffed, but did not comment; Denmark and Finland would occasionally glance at each other, but they remained silent.<p>

Soon, they took another turn and walked down a lonely corridor and then they stood in front of an elevator which has a sign on it saying 'AUTHORISED STAFF ONLY!'

Finland tilted his head at Denmark and he nodded, turning around to keep guard while the bleeping noises of the keypad on the wall persisted from Dr Abe pressing many buttons on it.

"This code is single-use only, so we can go down there and return to this floor, but that's it – you cannot just go back underground. I would take as much vaccines and cures as possible," Dr Abe warned once the lights around the door frame turned green and the steel doors slid open with a low hissing sound.

The Nordic companions nodded and walked inside the elevator with the doctor and the doors shut immediately. The ventilation shafts by the ceiling suddenly snapped open and a white smoky stream rushed inside the box, startling Finland and Denmark.

"Don't panic! The elevator is automatically decontaminating us!" Dr Abe barked.

And then as sudden as they opened, the shafts snapped shut and the box was bathed in a blue-indigo light.

"And the ultraviolet light is there to kill any remaining bacteria," Dr Abe added.

The light switched off automatically and the elevator suddenly hummed as it dropped at a slow pace.

"Now we're moving…" Finland stated bluntly and scratched his head for sounding so obvious.

Dr Abe, however, didn't give him any snippy comments like he expected. He gulped and took a deep breath, but he gasped when Denmark rested his hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry; we'll get the cure, save Ice, and then get out of this island," the Dane whispered. Finland shut his eyes and nodded.

Suddenly, the walkie-talkie crackled into life and they all jumped, gasping.

"Lukas to Timo. Anything yet? Over."

Denmark's lips stretched into a smile and he grabbed the walkie-talkie off the hook on Finland's belt and he pressed the button on it.

"YO! Matthias here!" he yelped happily.

"Ugh… be professional and say 'over' every time you finish your sentence – over," Norway replied.

"A-Okay~!" Denmark paused, and then he added, 'over!"

"Did you or the other two find anything yet?" Norway asked. "Over."

"No, we just got into the elevator," Denmark replied, "over."

"Pass me to Doctor Abe – over."

"Eh? But why?" Denmark pouted. "…Over."

Dr Abe snatched the walkie-talkie off the complaining Dane. "Doctor Abe here: what's going on with the boy? Over."

"He's sleeping, but he has these sores all over his body and his skin is peeling off. His skin is greenish. Over." Norway replied.

"That's normal for the zombification process. But the skin peeling away allows germs to enter the body, so I'd use any antiseptic creams that are stored in my office. Over." Dr Abe advised.

The elevator suddenly stopped and the doors pinged open, revealing a long, cold corridor full of groaning decomposing zombies. Finland and Denmark flinched and stepped back, crutches shaking in their hands. The doctor also stepped back nervously, but the zombies don't seem to notice the three occupants…

…Until the walkie-talkie hissed and the rotted heads slowly turned.

"Are you all in the labs yet? Over."

Dr Abe, while staring at the zombies trudging towards them, spoke softly. "Yes… and we have company. We'll talk later. Over…"

"Let's go!" Denmark exclaimed and stepped out the elevator alongside Finland, who nodded determinedly.

Dr Abe glared at the zombies and murmured under his breath, and raised his voice. "Those are Level 1 zombies! These are the least advanced of the series and they take an extremely long time to decompose! They may be the underdogs, but their strength is incredible! Don't let them grab hold of you or that's the end of you!"

All the zombies looked like scientists when they were alive because they wore lab coats, which are stained with various strange fluids. Some lost their fingers and even a couple lost their lower jaws, but unfortunately they still have feet to walk on…

Denmark was the first to make a move as he charged forward and swung his crutch, snapping the neck of the nearest zombie and the body crumpled to the ground. The head was still attached, but the limbs on the body were twitching. The Dane grinned triumphantly and spun his crutch with one hand.

"WOO! I am the motherfucking king of killing zombies! FUCK YEAH!"

Suddenly something grabbed his ankle and he screamed and fell on his back while the still-alive zombie dragged itself closer to him. It opened its dripping jaws, hovering over his boot. Finland yelled and slammed his crutch down on the zombie's head, finally breaking the skull into pieces and the head fell apart while the skeletal hand on Denmark's ankle loosened.

The Dane shivered, breathing deeply as Finland quickly kicked the body away from his unharmed body. "Shit, Timo, you're the bomb…"

Finland grinned and he held a hand out. "Thanks…"

Denmark's eyes widened as he saw something behind him.

"BEHIND YOU!"

A hand seized Finland's neck from behind and he gasped, trying to quickly draw breath but the grip on his neck from behind was tremendous. He dropped his crutch and tried to pry the fleshy fingers off.

Without thinking Denmark got off the ground and ran to the side, slamming the tip of the crutch through the zombie's head and it came out the other side, coated with a black, spongy mush. The deadly fingers let go of Finland's neck and the boy dropped to his knees, panting and feeling relief return to his body.

"Keep going! There are 6 more!" Denmark faced the remaining lot of advancing zombies.

* * *

><p>Sweden looked up worriedly when Norway walked into the Hospital Wing holding a tube of antiseptic cream in one hand and the walkie-talkie in the other. "Anythin'?"<p>

"They encountered some zombies." Sweden immediately stood up. "They'll be fine. Danmark is there."

"But-"

"Stay," the Norwegian glared at the other male and he sat down obediently. "They just got to the underground floors. It was a lot faster than I thought…"

Sweden could sense hope in the boy's words and he reached his long arm out and rested a hand on Norway's shoulder. Norway shut his eyes and he held Sweden's hand, squeezing it.

"Ja… they will be fine."

* * *

><p>Denmark and Finland panted as they stared at the bodies of the zombies lying on the floor with oil-black blood pooling around them.<p>

Dr Abe stepped out of the elevator hesitantly, looking down at the dead zombies.

"Nice job…" he said, shaking all over from the excitement. Denmark just turned around and smirked.

"Who're ya gonna call? Zombie-hunter~!" he snickered and Finland whacked him upside the head.

"Come on! The cures!" he said and turned to the doctor.

"You're right. We have to hurry…"

There are a few rooms around as they all hurried down the corridor, but Doctor Abe murmured numbers as he quickly glanced at the plates on the doors. At the very end he suddenly stopped.

"The biohazard lab. Excellent." He pulled the handle on the door and it swung open easily – but Denmark frowned and stepped back. Finland noticed the lack of heavy steps from Danish boots and he paused just outside the lab, looking back.

"Tanska? What's wrong?" he asked, blinking.

"Don't you find it strange that Dr Abe has a gun of his own, yet he didn't do anything with it in that battle?" Denmark muttered to the Finn.

Finland looked into the biohazard room and saw Dr Abe's back as he bent over a desk, picking up some files and papers. He turned back. "I guess that is strange, but that corridor was too narrow. He would only accidentally shoot us, and we can't die from just gunshots… which would look very suspicious to an ordinary human to see someone get shot, but still walk."

"And another thing…" Denmark grumbled, "the hospital wing… people would've flooded there as soon as they got bit by zombies, but we didn't find anyone else. What if all that blood on the door was from survivors who got turned away? Could Dr Abe have ignored them on purpose?"

Finland paled at that realisation.

"A-are you sure?"

"Yes!" The Dane hissed, "yet, the door was unlocked!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The sudden strangled yell stole the nations' attention and they ran into the biohazard lab to see a ravenous chimpanzee biting at Dr Abe's arm. The screaming chimp's teeth sheared some flesh and the sleeve of Dr Abe's labcoat into its mouth and it ate them greedily while holding the yelling doctor down to the floor. Finland threw a hand over his mouth to stop him gargling at the nauseating feeling in his stomach at the stench and the scene in front of him while Denmark shouted.

"Leave him!" The Dane charged forward and stabbed at the chimp's head, but it didn't penetrate the head like the zombies earlier. It was like a gentle nudge. Denmark backed away immediately and the chimp let go of the doctor's body and it hissed at him, baring its bloodied fangs. There were bald patches in the chimp's skin and it stank of rotting cheese and fruit. "Oooh shit…"

The chimp leaped at Denmark without warning and he managed to raise his crutch in time to protect his face from the chimp's bared teeth. The chimp gripped the crutch and tried to yank it out the way, but even Denmark's legendary strength struggled to keep it in place.

"Shoot it!" he cried.

Finland dropped his crutch and quickly raised his gun and aimed it, but the deranged chimp and Denmark are both moving too much.

"Keep still!" Finland cried.

"I can't!" Denmark yelled and threw his crutch away to the other side of the room and the chimp crashed against a bookcase, knocking over and landing on top of the screaming chimp with books pouring out over the floor.

The Dane breathed deeply and sighed in relief. "Thank god it's-"

Like an explosion, the bookcase flung onto its side and a howling chimp charged with insane speed towards Finland, who managed to raise his arm before the chimp suddenly sunk its teeth into it. He screamed, roughly falling onto his back. His other hand gripped the chimp's neck, trying to push it away. Blood drained from Denmark's face.

"SHIT, NO!" Denmark yelled and snatched up his crutch and started hitting the chimp, but it did no damage. It didn't unlock its teeth from the crying boy's limb.

"My gun!" Finland shouted and clenched his teeth as he maintained his grip on the animal's neck to hold it still, "sh-shoot it!"

Denmark's eyes hurriedly scanned the floor and picked up the metal and aimed it at the chimp, but he started to shake all over. A rare panic attack gripped him. The sight of blood and imminent death shook his nerves and veins pulsed in his vision, hearing nothing but his blood racing by his ears.

"Shoot now!" Finland screamed.

Denmark fired, but he missed the creature completely and pain ripped through his shoulders. "Agh!"

"Straighten your arms!" Finland shouted and Denmark (shakily) stiffened his arms and fired again. The shot was better, but it only grazed the chimp's fur, singeing it a little. His heart raced in elevating panic.

"No, no, no, no!" Denmark screamed and fired again and again, loud shots ringing around the room noisily and as his mind was being ripped in half from insanity. The shots all missed the rabid animal.

Finland grit his teeth and he turned his head around slowly, eyes boring into Denmark's frightened gaze.

"Tanska… shoot the body and throw me the gun! There's only two rounds left!"

"B-B-B-But-"

"Trust me!" Finland shouted and he lifted his foot and tried to keep the chimp further away from him.

Denmark gulped and raised the gun again, aiming at the chimp's body. He didn't even question why Fin wants him to shoot the body, but he wants him to trust him…

And if he wants him to trust him, then he will trust him.

The Dane took a breath. He fired a calm shot directly at the chimp's body and the chimp rolled off Finland from the force of the shot. Immediately, he threw the gun at Finland and he caught it before rolling onto his side just as the animal growled and ran towards him.

Pain seared in Finland's right arm, and he isn't a good shot with his left hand, not to mention his body began shaking for some unnatural reason. His breathing became erratic and his vision blurred, creating multiple chimps in his line of vision and the weight in his arm felt as if the weight is draining away, giving him a strange sense of heavier gravity.

"FINLAND!"

He inhaled some air and exhaled, pulling the trigger and he heard a final scream before he rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling with unblinking eyes.

* * *

><p>In the Hospital Wing, Norway slept in his seat while holding Iceland's hand. On Iceland's skin were blobs of antiseptic cream where Norway applied them to, hoping they would stop any more infections. The blobs of cream just bubbled slowly on their own as they are sluggishly absorbed into the feverish skin. Sweden sat in his seat too, sleeping when his eyes snapped open and he gasped, paling with unfocused eyes. His mind blanked until he heard Norway's worried voice.<p>

"What's wrong?"

"…Nightmare… about Timo…"

* * *

><p>"Finland! Finland!"<p>

The Finn took deep breaths and pulled himself up into a sitting position, looking over at the corpse of the chimp. Its head limped to the side, stretching the skin of the neck which has a hole in it with a ring of gunpowder around it from being fired at close range.

"Is it… dead?" Finland asked hesitantly, heart pounding again.

"Yeah, it is, but Abe…" Denmark shut his eyes and sighed. Finland looked over to the desk where Doctor Abe lay on the ground in a pool of bodily fluids; he gasped and scrambled to his feet but Denmark seized his shoulder. "It's too late. We can't save him."

Pain returned to Finland's arm and he grit his teeth, hissing at the burning pain and he grabbed at the wound on his lower right arm without thinking.

"Shit, you got bit by that damn monkey…" Denmark growled and he immediately ran to the desk where Dr Abe placed a box containing vials in. "Type what…? Dammit! What virus did that fucking monkey have!?"

"…Type 3…" A pained voice moaned.

The groan seized their attentioned and they both and looked at Dr Abe as he moved himself to lean back against the desk with difficulty. "That was an experiment… its Type 3…"

Denmark immediately looked through the box and picked out a vial with luminous green liquid in. "There's only Level 3…"

But Dr Abe nodded impatiently.

"Same thing! Give it t-to your friend… now…" Dr Abe wheezed, "make him drink it…"

"But what about you, Abe?!" Finland cried and stumbled over. "You're in a worse shape than I am!"

"It's too late… 5 minutes has passed for me… I'll be paralysed after that time…" Dr Abe breathed out. "Drink it now!"

"Timo." Finland looked at Denmark just as he pulled the rubber cap off the small pinky-sized glass and he held it out to him. "Drink it. We must come back alive."

"But, Tanska!" Finland yelled, but Denmark shook his head and he strode over in two steps and seized his chin, lifting his head with a determined look.

"You have to drink it or you won't ever recover!" Denmark ranted and the tip of the vial touched Finland's lips. The young male shut his eyes and his other hand gently raised the glass, tipping the liquid back into his mouth. He quickly gulped it down, hoping not to taste anything… surprisingly, there wasn't any taste to it.

Denmark put the empty glass on the desk and he embraced Finland close, rubbing his back.

"Hang in there, Finny," he murmured into his hair. Finland could only feel his body becoming heavier as well as his mind and he gripped the Dane's sleeves in fright.

"I-I'm so heavy…"

"That's normal…" the weak doctor said from the floor, "take him to the hospital wing so he could sleep… take the box and the files inside it… now…"

"What about you?" Denmark asked, glancing at the box. "There are… lots of vials that can stop you from becoming-"

"Kill me then!" the doctor spat. "I'd rather die… a human… than… become one of those things…"

He coughed as his skin paled and tinged dark patches on green on his exposed skin; his shoulder where his arm was torn off from bled more freely onto the floor when his body fell sideward.

"I can't…" Finland shook his head, trying not to cry, "I used up all the ammo in the gun!"

"There's still the crutches…" Denmark muttered and Finland looked at him in horror, but he said nothing. Hands held his face gently and made him look at the Dane's serious expression. "Go outside and wait with the vaccines. Don't go anywhere else. Just wait for me."

With a shaky breath, he picked up the plastic box and stalked out the room without looking back. He slammed the door shut once he was out.

When Finland left the room, Denmark leaned down and picked up a bloodied crutch and looked at the dying doctor on the floor.

"I'm sorry." Denmark blurted. He had never apologised to someone before killing them in his long life. He never considered a scenario like this one before. In the old days, prisoners begged him to kill them so they won't be tortured, but then again they weren't infected by a monstrous disease that can transform them into horrifying creatures that fiction could never describe…

"Forgiven." Doctor Abe sighed before shutting his eyes. His lips trembled. "But… there's something extremely important that you must know…"

* * *

><p>Finland shut his eyes tightly as he leaned against the wall besides the door. He doesn't wish to look at the zombies lying on the floor further up the corridor.<p>

Suddenly, he heard a distant whacking sound and a crunching noise. The male flinched and shook his head.

And then there was another sound: a crunch of wood being split in half and Finland covered his ears and whimpered, not believing that it's taking this long.

Then there was silence.

Silently, the door opened and Denmark walked out with his eyes dulled and a deadened expression. He turned to Finland and held his hand out while the other held one crutch.

"The chimp broke the other…"

_No. It broke on Dr Abe. You took too long to kill him._

"There'll be better weapons somewhere else on this island."

_No. I don't want to kill anything else. Even if the zombies are technically dead._

"But I promise you, Fin, we'll ALL leave the island together."

_No. Don't make promises you can't keep…_

Denmark closed his eyes and wrapped his arm around Finland, hugging him with the free arm.

"I promise. This isn't because of Sverige, but it's for you."

"Mmmhm…" His foot accidentally nudged the box of labelled vials and the glass tinkled together.


	9. Chapter 9

Denmark and Finland both walked back to the elevator in silence, walking past and over the rapidly decomposing bodies of the zombies they had killed earlier. Even though they feel that they shouldn't let their guards down, the scent of blood and remorse lingered heavily, giving their arms a dull feeling of relaxation…

"Wait…" Finland murmured. Denmark glanced at him. "We can only use that elevator once, remember? Should we at least explore these laboratories in case we find something useful?"

Denmark just replied coldly. "Have you forgotten that Island could be changing into a zombie right now?"

Finland flinched as he remembered. "T-Tansk—"

"Just hurry up. Island's important to me too. As you all are. So let's go."

He pressed the elevator button and the doors slid open and they stepped inside, with the noise of the vaccine phials chinking together in the case.

A loud hissing sound pierced the air as the air vents snapped open and the men yelped in surprise, being snatched out of their depression-stupor and they clung to each other, but the white gas didn't do anything to them and it quickly dissipated. The metal vents just again before the elevator was filled with a purple light.

"O-oh, the doctor said it's to decontaminate us…" Finland murmured, remembering Doctor Abe. Denmark sighed in relief and let go of the boy, but not his hand.

"Ah… good memory…" Denmark seemed as if he was in a daze, however calm he spoke.

Finland's fingers curled around his hand and they squeezed back in return.

* * *

><p>Norway sat by Iceland's bed, still watching his features as he stroked his hair again. He is now rationing the antiseptic cream since he thought that he may need it for later. Iceland's still unconscious, but he is still breathing and his skin now looks red and raw from having so much skin peeling off.<p>

Meanwhile, Sweden was in the first aid room, busy packing some medical supplies in a cooler bag. He added the basic first aid kit, but he added a few surgical instruments as well as disinfecting wipes and more bandages and a couple of splints. The cooler bag he is using is the kind of bag that you use to store cold drinks and keep food cool for picnics, but it isn't made out of plastic which was good because it's stuffed to the brim with medical supplies.

"Isn't that overdoing it?" Norway asked from the doorway to the office. Sweden shook his head.

"I have a feelin' that we're gonna need these…"

Their radio suddenly crackled and they jumped in shock, but remembered who possessed the second radio. Norway answered it.

"Lukas speaking. What's going on? Over."

"…We got all the vaccines, every one of them. Over." It was Finland's voice.

"Good. Are you on your way back? Over."

"We are… Tanska and I are alright. We had to use one on me because I got bitten, but I'm alright now. Over."

Norway noticed something and frowned, glancing at Sweden. "What about Doctor Abe?"

"…We were too late. H-he got bitten… he didn't make it…" A sniff was heard and another voice took over the radio. Denmark.

"Hej, it's Danmark… we really can't talk right now. We're on our way back. We got the vaccines. Island is going to be okay. I promise. Over and out."

The communication was then cut off and Norway and Sweden stared at each other before the Norwegian sighed and looked down. He turned around and was about to leave the room when he felt a hand hold his and he glanced back at Sweden, who gave him a stare before pulling him into a hug. Slowly, Norway hugged him back.

"At least… those two are alright…" he murmured.

* * *

><p>Soon, the door to the hospital wing opened and Sweden looked up to see Finland and Denmark, both looking ragged from stress.<p>

"Hey…" Finland smiled weakly, and squeaked when Sweden stormed over and embraced him. Denmark took the case of vaccines and wheeled the box past the lovers and ran over to Norway and Iceland.

"We got them!" Denmark said hurriedly as he picked out the right vaccine, the one normally used on Type 2 zombies. It's a normal glass jar with a thin film exposed when you unscrew the lid where the needle pokes through to take in the liquid. Norway stood up quickly.

"What do you need to get that in Island?" he asked urgently.

"A needle and syringe!" Denmark spat out as he quickly unscrewed the lid. "It says on the label that all the liquid in this jar needs to be injected into him!"

Norway was already in the doctor's office, snatching out a needle and ripped the plastic packaging off it. He rushed back in time to see Finland and Sweden standing by the bed, both holding Iceland's left hand and they all looked at him.

"Who'll inject him?" Finland asked shakily. Sweden's arm wrapped around his waist tighter.

"I will," the Norwegian breathed and held his free hand out for Denmark to give him the jar. The Dane himself gazed at Norway with serious intensity, not letting go of the jar just yet.

"It's a lot, but can you manage it?"

Norway looked at the ashen face of his younger brother as he lay on the bed, breathing extremely slowly. His peeled skin exposed sores and some bleeding wounds on his body where the antibacterial cream dissolved into the skin. He's almost gone. Not long until he becomes a zombie, and when he does they'll have to kill him before he becomes inhuman…

Norway's stare steeled and his grip on the jar tightened. "I will."

With that, Denmark let go of the glass object and Norway stabbed the needle through the white film and the steel tube touched the bottom of the jar, slowly sucking up the liquid when Norway pulled the plunger outwards. As the barrel filled up with a light greenish liquid, everyone watched him. Denmark's hand reached to his side to hold Iceland's right hand gently.

Once the jar is empty, Norway pulled the needle out. But then he looked at the label.

"Inject into the vein…" he gulped. He isn't medically minded. He knew what veins are, but… he doesn't feel confident. What if he gets it wrong…?

"What's wrong?" Finland asked, staring at him.

"I… I don't… feel right doing this… what if I miss his vein…?"

"You won't! This is a vein right here!" Denmark pointed at a faded blue line that's quite prominent thanks to Iceland's skin being so stretched from the parasite's effect on his body. "You won't miss it! I'll hold his arm and you inject that shit into that vein right now!"

He held Iceland's elbow and hand, showing off his forearm. "Do it! He doesn't have long!"

Norway took in some breath and kneeled down, sticking the fine, pointed needle into the skin and at the vein. Everyone watched when he pushed the plunger down and the liquid flowed into Iceland's vein from the emptying barrel. It was a tense moment, and Norway didn't breathe until the liquid was all gone and he pulled the needle out, immediately throwing it into the bin across the room and he searched Iceland's expression for any sign of awakening.

He didn't open his eyes.

In horror, Finland glanced at Sweden and back at the boy lying in bed.

"Guys… W-when I took the vaccine in the laboratories, I felt really sleepy…" he started slowly, but nobody looked at him. He kept going when he felt a weight tugging his body down. "But then… I just kept myself awake since the vaccine is still working on me…"

All of a sudden his eyes fluttered shut and he collapsed to the floor, limp. The other men gasped and Sweden quickly kneeled by him and shook him.

"Finland! What's wrong?!" He lifted the boy in his arms, but he could see that he was breathing normally.

"Put him in another bed. It's like he said, the vaccine he took is making him tired," Denmark said. Sweden said nothing and walked to the bed next to the Iceland's and rested Finland on it, kissing his forehead.

"And now… we wait," Norway mumbled as he looked at Iceland's silent face and sat in a spare chair.

* * *

><p>The day outside remained bright and sunny, but the atmosphere couldn't get any gloomier in the hospital wing.<p>

"Okay…" Denmark sighed. "So. Two men down. There's still me, Sverige and Norge awake… our only gunman is unconscious…" His stomach rumbled. "And I'm hungry."

He looks at Norway, who is still sitting on the seat besides the hospital bed that Iceland is peacefully sleeping on. Denmark glanced over at Sweden who sat at the bed while holding Finland's hand.

The Dane sighed loudly and Norway sent him a heavy, tired glare.

"Tired?" he growled.

Denmark shivered under his glare. "Well, yeah I am! I just got back from a dangerous mission and I almost got chewed on by zombies!"

Norway said nothing and went back to look at Iceland. Denmark yawned again and stretched.

"I'm gonna go sleep…" He looked down the ward and walked to leap onto a spare hospital bed, making it squeak loudly.

Norway's glare couldn't burn through two portable curtains, but Denmark felt his skin crawl. He sighed loudly again and rested back on the bed, feeling uncomfortable at the crisp material. He'd rather go outside for fresh air – but oh no, he remembered. Zombies. When did this holiday become so twisted and nightmarish? But the stress of today combined with the aeroplane trip all spilled into his conscience and his eyelids slowly closed and his mind blanked, relaxing his whole body on the uncomfortable bed. Norway noticed a lack of noise from the Dane and felt relieved deep down that he's getting some rest, but grew increasingly nervous at the thought of his friends going asleep one-by-one, like a sleeping bug pandemic is running amok and it puts victims in a deep dark sleep that they can never wake up from and leave them vulnerable to preying nightmares of suppressed memories…

"Coffee…" he grumbled and stood up. "Doctors always have coffee somewhere…"

He seemed to have forgotten that Sweden is the only other Nordic who's conscious as he quickly walked into the office and examined the kitchen corner's cupboards for coffee – or anything that can keep him awake for as long as possible. But the cupboards only had some staple ingredients like bread, milk and some teabags (they were Earl Grey, he noticed) but there was no coffee. Norway's throat clenched as he gulped and his hands started to shake, making it harder for him to move objects aside as he searched on, but when he accidentally knocked a mug off the shelf without noticing. The mug landed against the wooden counter with a loud bump and he gasped and spun in time to see it smash against the hard-tiled floor. After that, Sweden immediately ran into the room, holding a crutch and looked around for enemies, but the only person that is in the room is his shaking companion, who was pressing back against the counter so hard that his knuckles were turning white. Norway's eyes were wide and full of panic.

"Sverige…" he murmured, voice slightly shaking.

The Swede just grunted and lowered the crutch. "Go to bed. Yer tired."

Norway just silently pried himself from the counter and walked past him, not meeting his eyes. He wanted to sleep with Iceland, but the beds weren't that large so he grudgingly walked past Finland's and Denmark's beds to sit on a spare bed. He heard Sweden's footsteps approaching him and he glanced down slowly, not wanting to talk… or sleep.

"What are ya afraid of?" Sweden's deep voice asked.

"Nothing."

"Ya wanted some coffee."

"So?"

"We need our rest. So do you."

"I know."

"Then lie down."

Norway steeled his glare. "In my own time."

"You needed some coffee because you want to stay awake and protect Island in case," Sweden commented.

He didn't need to ask Norway if he was right, because the Norwegian's glare intensified, adding a more terrifying affect to his already red-rimmed eyes that he tried hard to wipe away with magic earlier.

Norway just lied down and pulled the duvet over himself, hiding his face. His Swedish companion wouldn't leave it at that though as he stepped over and gently rested his large hand on where his shoulder is.

"I'll… protect you. An' everyone else." He murmured lowly. "I'll do what I can to protect you, no matter what. I promise you that here and now."

Norway said nothing, but Sweden noticed he started to relax. "It's okay to sleep sometime. It gives you the chance to escape reality… and revive your body and magic. Sleep…"

The Norwegian inhaled a deep breath and exhaled.

"Fine…" he muttered and shut his eyes. Sweden stood there for a while, watching the Norwegian until he is satisfied that he fell asleep and quietly walked back to Finland's bed, sitting on a spare seat and he reached out to hold his hand. He's not planning on falling asleep himself, he promised Norway after all.

* * *

><p>Much later, Sweden's eyes opened when he realised that he had fallen asleep while sitting in his seat and quickly stood up to look down the hospital wing, seeing nobody apart from him and his Nordic companions – who all seemed to be fast asleep. His heart rate slowed down back to a normal pace and he let out a deep sigh, vowing to never again be the only watchman again on a deadly island.<p>

"…Ruotsi?" a murmur alerted him and he glanced at Finland as he rubbed his eyes. Sweden couldn't be any happier than seeing Finland alive and well. "Where are we?"

"…Still on this hellish island," the taller man murmured as he sat on the bed and stroked the Finn's cheek. The smaller male leaned against his soft touch.

"At least you're with me here…" Finland spoke lowly. "What about the other guys?"

"Fast asleep."

"Now what? I can't sleep… OH!" Finland yelped in surprise and made Sweden jump.

"What? What is it?"

"Doctor Abe had a gun with him! Dammit I could've taken his gun!" the small male groaned and facepalmed. "And now that sounded ethically wrong because I'd be taking a gun from its owner…"

"Morals and ethics don't really count on this death-trap of an island…" Sweden murmured.

"I know, I know… hmm…" Finland hummed thoughtfully and he dug his hand into his trousers pocket, pulling out a cardkey. "At least he gave me the cardkey that'll grant us access to every door on this island. Except for the door to the laboratories…"

Sweden glanced at the card. "At least that'll give us some leads. We could help the other people who are trapped on this island."

But Finland had a slightly grim expression over his face. "I don't know… the airport is small enough for one aeroplane, and there are… lots of people here…"

Sweden understood where he's going with this. Zombies are running rampant on an isolated island in an unknown oceanic location where the only way to get there is by aeroplane. Communications are restricted to the staff, who are nowhere to be seen, and the reception for their mobile phones is extremely poor so they can't even call their bosses for help. Plus, with what's going on, it'll be impossible to save every holidaymaker on this island without one of them going crazy and kill themselves or without creating an uncontrolled riot.

With the right circumstances, humans are more dangerous than zombies. The Nordics will have to fight for themselves from now on.

"So what is the plan?" Finland asked quietly. "I don't like having to sacrifice people again just to guarantee our freedom from this island, but we have to get out of here."

Aeroplane. That's the most obvious thought running through their minds, but one isn't due until next week. Would they hold out until then? Will an aeroplane even bother to show up?

"We still need to find out more about this island," Finland spoke after a minute of silence. "I feel as if we need to know more about what those people are doing here with those parasites."

"Abe says they're from Island."

"Does our Island know about them?" Finland glanced over at the boy, who still seems to be in a deep sleep.

"I don't think so."

Finland sighed. "Okay… so it'll be quicker to just find a way off this island rather than stay for longer… I dunno, Sve, I'd rather wait until everyone else is awake so we can make a game plan together."

"And we'll do just that. Shall we wake 'em up now?"

The Finn nodded. "The sooner the better. But without injuring Danmark accidentally on purpose."


	10. Chapter 10

No sooner than did Sweden say to Finland that they'll talk to everyone as a group, they heard a grumble and the sounds of bed springs creaking before Denmark walked up to them while mussing up his own hair. With his hair flopping, he seems more mature, but then they almost forgot that Denmark's only wearing his swimming trunks and sandals.

"Hey… am I still having that nightmare when I'm stuck on a zombie-infested island?" he tried to sound humorous, but he had a note of worry in his voice.

"Sadly, yes," Finland sighed. "Could you go wake up Norja? We're calling for a group meeting."

"Got it…" Denmark grumbled, but then a smile crossed his face as a plan hatched in his mind. Finland smiled and raised an eyebrow at him warningly, but couldn't warn the Dane as he skipped off to go to Norway's bed.

"What was that about?" Sweden asked, frowning. Finland sent him a smile and a shrug.

A few seconds later, a loud slapping noise and Denmark's squeal was heard. Finland laughed as Denmark walked back besides them with a pained grin and a deep red mark on his cheek.

"You told me to wake him up – not on HOW though~"

Sweden sighed and felt Norway's presence besides him. If glares could kill…

A small whimper broke the air and the Nordics fell silent, listening. The four of them are awake, except for…

"Island," Norway murmured and he quickly walked to the bed in the cubicle besides Finland's and stepped besides Iceland's bed. The Norwegian held his hand and watched his pained expression contort before relaxing and the boy gasped for air. Iceland's neck seemed a little swollen, but not entirely disfiguring. His eyes cracked open and gazed at Norway while his breath rasped.

"…B… B… bróðir…?"

It was barely audible, but Norway heard it as clear as a bell. He leant down and brushed his fringe back, pressing a kiss to his burning forehead, close to shedding a tear. Meanwhile, the other 3 Nordics watched on quietly, holding their breaths.

"I'm here now, don't you worry… how are you feeling now?" the Norwegian asked gently, still brushing his hands through the boy's hair, wet from sweat.

"Bad… b… but… better…" Iceland wheezed and coughed drily. His body shook all over from the coughing until he calmed down with smaller coughs. His fingers curled experimentally, but they moved just fine.

"Just rest… we're all safe. Finland and Danmark have obtained some medicine and saved you."

"O-oh… Danmörk…" Iceland hissed and his fingers snaked around his own neck, squeezing it. "'s my… fault he's dea... dead…"

Norway gave him a puzzled look, but then he shook his head.

"No, he's very much alive. So is Finland," he corrected him and held his hand to pry it away from his neck.

"I bit his neck…" the younger male rasped and coughed. Norway gave Denmark a glance, and he looked at him with a confused frown before realising.

"Oh! You didn't bite me, you only licked it!" Denmark clarified with a small laugh. "It actually felt kinda nic—"

"Svíþjóð…?" Iceland murmured, not focusing on anyone at this point.

"He's fine too. You didn't hurt anyone," Norway whispered reassuringly and stroked his cheek.

Finland and Denmark glanced at each other with wary glances at the Norwegian's lying – they were there when that security guard got disembowelled by the young teenager.

Iceland sighed softly and shut his eyes.

"Would you like a glass of water?" Norway asked. His brother nodded.

"I'll get one for you!" Finland volunteered with a bright smile and quickly walked to the doctor's office and out of sight.

"W-well then!" Denmark suddenly exclaimed, smiling greatly like his usual idiotic self, "I'll go grab an extra blanket to keep ya warm! You're shivering like Sve's butt in Winter!"

He didn't wait for Norway or Iceland's approval as he charged off like a hyperactive child down the ward. The remaining 3 men assumed he's gone to fetch blankets from the unoccupied beds, but Sweden and Norway mentally planned to sleep tonight without blankets as long as their blankets are keeping Iceland warm.

"…Ya must be hungry. I'll go an' find some soup sachets in the kitchen area." Sweden stood up and wandered into the doctor's office too, closing the door behind him.

Thoughts of the offers flew through Iceland's mind, but not quite pinning down any of them to any particular emotions. But as soon as he tasted how dry his mouth was, how cold he actually is and how empty his stomach is, he felt immediately grateful for the three men. But… he felt more grateful that Norway is still sitting beside him, holding his hand as if he was a child all over again whenever he is bedridden with any illnesses. That warmth you feel from within isn't spared to you by just anyone, only those closest to you can ignite that sweet feeling of happiness in your heart.

As Norway watched his face, a tiny smile made its way across Iceland's face.

* * *

><p>…In the kitchen area of the doctor's office, Sweden quietly waited for the soup in the microwave to heat up. He could find no sachets with soup powder in, but the tinned varieties were a lot better (thank god to the inventor of can-openers that a can-opener was in plain sight.) He heard the tap running while Finland filled a glass with water before the tap suddenly got cut off. Frowning, the Swede turned to Finland but it was the younger male who shut the tap off prematurely. The Finn was staring at him.<p>

"Sve…" he started… and sighed out a breath he was holding after a moment of hesitation. "Can you check the fridge for any water filter jug-things? I don't feel comfortable giving Islanti unfiltered water. I don't like the idea of drinking metals, even if they do make the water safer to drink…"

Sweden raised an eyebrow at his hesitation, but complied and turned to pull open a fridge which was disguised to look like another ordinary cupboard. Immediately, he found a jug full of water and he tugged it out. Finland accepted it, feeling the coolness spread into his hands from the chilly object.

"Kiitos…"

"What's wrong?"

Finland pursed his lips and put the jug on the side to pour out the water that was already in the glass. "I'm just… worried… when we were all separated earlier on this island and when I saw Islanti transform into something I'll never imagine him to be…"

"He's no longer the monster that you saw. He's back to normal. Plus, we're all together again, and…" his strong arms wrapped around Finland and he nuzzled his hair, "…I won't let any of you out of my sight again, especially you. I promise."

The Finn hugged him back, burying his face in his shoulder and nodded.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Denmark skipped back to the end of the ward with an armful of blankets and a big smile.<p>

"Got your blankets, Icey!" he announced and dropped them at the foot of the bed.

"I think only two will do, Danmark," Norway rolled his eyes at the absurd number of blankets Denmark grabbed. Did he even take the blankets that the other guys slept with?

The male stood up and took a blanket, tugging and tucking it under Iceland's body, but only while leaving his arms free which are lying on top of the blanket.

"Thanks, Nor…" Iceland murmured as he shifted to get comfortable. He'll soon feel warmer… But then the teen blinked when he remembered something. "Where's Svíþjóð and Finnland? What's taking them so long?"

As if on cue, the door opened and a flushed Finland stepped out holding a glass of water while Sweden followed with his normal poker-face expression. Norway raised an eyebrow at their lateness while Denmark snickered.

"You two were going at it in the kitchen, weren't you~?" he laughed and Finland shrieked in embarrassment.

"No, we weren't!"

But then Denmark pointed out a fresh love bite on his neck and Sweden tried hard to not throw the hot bowl of soup at his face. Luckily he only 'accidentally' stepped on the Dane's foot and carefully placed a food tray and bowl on Iceland's lap while Denmark shrieked his head off at the throbbing pain in his foot. Finland just simply placed the glass of water on the cabinet beside the bed, cheeks still heated from earlier.

* * *

><p>Being watched by the 4 older Nordics unnerved Iceland as he gradually ate his soup and drank some filtered water. And man it annoyed him, but in the light of the circumstances involving his near-death, he just shrugged it off and pretended that he wasn't being watched so closely as if he was going to snap. Oh well. As long as Denmark is being quiet, then he's as happy as can be.<p>

_Ring-ring! Ring-ring! Ring-ring!_

Finland's mobile phone suddenly began to ring. They all jumped in shock in realisation and Iceland almost spat out his water in surprise. Finland laughed.

"Oh, I am sorry, I forgot to put this on Silent, but I didn't since I told Viro to call me when I get to this island—" he froze and everyone gave each other shocked glances, thinking of the Eastern European and his love for technology as well as video games. It's Estonia. The male eventually found the will to accept the call and he put it on loudspeaker.

"V-Viro!" He laughed, trying to sound bouncy and bubbly, but his voice wavered, "How are you?"

"Soome!" the nerd shrieked at the other end of the line, "where are you now?!"

"We're…" Finland looked at everyone for help, but then Denmark quickly chipped in.

"We're at De Island! Well, it's actual name is DEADLY Island, but still!"

"Soome, everyone, you MUST get off that island immediately! There is no such registered holiday resort as Deadly Island in ANY holiday tour guides or websites in the world!" Estonia ranted urgently. "I snooped around some government computers for Northern Europe and there is a ton of strange crap going around, something about experimentation of ancient pathogens!"

"For turning people into zombies, we know!" Denmark finished for him.

"That's not the worst part! There isn't just experimentation of zombie-germs on people going on, but there are blueprints for biological bombs!"

The Nordics all stared at each other from the chilling news.

"Wh-what are we going to do then?!" Finland asked urgently.

"Get out of there of course!" Estonia spat, "I hacked—I mean, BORROWED Ameerika's satellites and had them zoom in on the island. While I can't hack into the network on Deadly Island, I can see what is going on outside," the men heard Estonia shudder, "real blood, guts and gore going on out there. I just saw some young teenagers get eaten up—"

"Estland," Sweden suddenly interrupted sternly, "What were ya sayin' about satellites?"

"O-oh! Yes! You see, I saw an aeroplane landing strip, but I saw no information saying anything about return flights. You're essentially trapped unless you go to the rooftop of the hotel, where a helicopter pad is at. I'm going to go fly there and rescue you guys, but it may take me an hour or two to reach you," Estonia added.

Denmark looked at them all. "So we've been stranded to begin with from the moment the aeroplane left, but the helicopter pad is our only hope now."

"Mmhm…" Finland hummed, "I had no idea Viro owned his own helicopter or that he had training…"

His best friend laughed at the other end of the line. "Well, I actually went into some military training before I crashed their best helicopter, but I personally blamed the Russians for forcing their language and customs onto me."

"You and Fin are tenacious…" Sweden muttered, but with a small secretive smile.

"Viro," Finland blurted with a great smile. "You're the best! We'll be waiting for you!"

"Thanks, Finny! I'll hurry if it's for you!" With that, the call was interrupted by static and cut off.

Denmark grinned and patted his back. "It's good to have a friendzoned pal who'll do anything for you!"

"Eh? What does friendzoned mean…?" Finland blinked but Sweden rested his hand on his shoulder with a stony expression.

"Nevermind. It's him being influenced by that Amerika an' Preussen's unnecessary social constructs again."

"Hey! He and Preussen are awesome pals of mine, ya know!" the Dane ranted, "together, we form The Awesome Trio!"

Amongst the banter around them, Norway turned to Iceland with a small smile, "We're going home soon."

Iceland just nodded silently, looking at him.

"At least we won't have to sunbathe with Danmark after all," his older brother chuckled and Iceland let out a low laugh.


	11. Chapter 11

"An hour or two…" Denmark muttered, "so since we're going to be rescued by helicopter, we should go to the rooftop."

"That is the plan, at least," Sweden added, "but we got a problem with the plan…"

"Ja, the zombies…" Norway muttered.

Iceland said nothing as he sipped the last contents of his soup.

"But we shouldn't have a problem with them, right? As long as we destroy their brains, then we're okay!" Finland spoke cheerily.

"But you don't have your gun anymore!" Denmark groaned. "And we should've taken Doctor Abe's gun while we were in the underground labs!"

Finland sighed at that and Sweden patted his shoulder.

"We could quickly run down to the sports hall and take some hockey sticks…" the Finn suggested, but Denmark shook his head.

"But you should use something on the zombies to get there," Denmark countered.

"I'm a fast runner – besides, I could use a noise diversion technique to distract them or even…" Finland stopped and suddenly burst out. "The ocean! Why aren't they going towards it if it makes a lot of noise?"

Norway spoke up as he stood up, bringing Iceland's finished soup bowl with him; "Well maybe they're used to it? It is noisy, but not as loud as you think once you get used to it. Maybe an explosion could really grab their attention."

"An explosion…" Everyone saw a glint in Denmark's eyes and Sweden patted his head.

"No, Danmark, you're not blowing things up."

The Dane pouted.

"Or we could use Danmörk as bait for the zombies…" Iceland murmured and Finland laughed.

"Good idea!" After seeing Denmark paling, the Finn chuckled. "We can ALL afford to be trolls from time to time, but let's have some serious ideas on getting past those zombies now…"

The men all glanced at each other as they thought. Norway instead left the ward to go into the doctor's office to drop the bowl into the sink and returned to see that everybody is still quiet. He sat back down besides Iceland's bed.

"Well I vote that we wait for half an hour before we leave. Island needs to recover from the vaccine's effects," Norway calmly stated.

"But what if Viro arrives sooner than an hour? He'll miss us and assume that we got eaten by the zombies," Finland spoke up worriedly. Sweden pulled him onto his lap to hug him and rest his chin on the smaller male's head, while patting his hands reassuringly.

"He's smart. He'll simply call your mobile again."

"But the phone reception is not very good here. I wonder how he managed to get through?" Finland wondered. Iceland sent him a glance.

"He's a technological genius with part-time jobs at M.I.T and the University of Tallinn – I'd say it's impossible for him to NOT know how to get through to you by any other means," the boy said pointedly. Finland lowered his gaze, feeling riled up for some reason as he tried not to raise his voice.

"Well, yes, I know that, he's my friend."

"But you said that you didn't even know that he could fly a helicopter until just now."

"Maybe he didn't want me to know or he's too busy or the thought of telling me everything slips his mind," the Finn huffed lightly.

"H-hey, now!" Denmark jumped into the conversation, feeling nervous, "let's get back to the plan!"

"Ja, I agree with you… for once," Sweden murmured. Denmark's eye twitched at that and he stood up with his hand clenched in a fist.

"Whaddaya mean you agree for once?!"

"GUYS," Norway spoke sharply and everyone glanced at him. "That's enough petty arguing… are we seriously arguing about random stuff while being trapped on a deserted island full of zombies? We have to settle things down and work together on this… Either we do that, or I'm leaving you guys behind."

"Whoa - no way! You're NOT going out there on your own!" Denmark ranted, "I won't let you!"

"Good then," Norway huffed, "now, I shall give you lot my idea and then discuss whether it's appropriate or not. We shall spend 10 minutes max discussing our ideas before we take action on said plans. Any objections? And also, nobody is allowed to abstain from voting."

When he was met with silence, he carried on.

"Alright… my idea: We wait half an hour for Island to recover from the vaccine before allowing him to move around. Danmark and Sverige shall stay by his side at all times to protect him with their strength; Finland will follow up from behind while I lead the group. Next idea – Finland?"

"H-huh?" the Finn blinked and felt immediately shy as soon as everybody glanced at him. "W-well… My idea… Ignore the zombies and be as quiet as possible to avoid attracting attention…?" He glanced up at Sweden to indicate that he has finished and the other man coughed lightly.

"My idea: Danmark will create a noisy diversion while us four move on." Norway raised an eyebrow at him, but he did not retract his idea. He did add more though to satisfy the Norwegian. "And… Then as soon as we make it to the helicopter pad, I run back to fetch Danmark and bring him up too."

That extra idea made Denmark stare at him with obvious shock. "Wha— Do you seriously mean that?"

"Your turn," the Swede grumbled and glanced away.

"Huh… I can be a hero too, you know…" the Dane murmured and spoke up, "fine… We DON'T split up and we WON'T leave anybody behind. No matter what, we ALL stay together!" That seemed to spark flames of determination in his eyes as he turned to Iceland. "Your turn, kid…"

Iceland looked at Norway and then at everybody else while thinking. Seeing them stare at him unnerved him greatly and his eyes travelled down to the blankets while he fiddled with the crisp fabric, creasing it from collecting his jumbled thoughts.

"Island…?" Norway spoke softly, "is something wrong?"

"No…" the Icelandic teen mumbled, "I can't think of anything… I… All of us stay together, no splitting up, we protect EACH OTHER and not just me because I'm a kid... I can be strong too…"

After that, Norway sighed. "Okay… what do you all think of my idea of waiting for Island to recover before moving on?"

"I'd say it's a good plan since the vaccine is working perfectly so far," Finland assessed with a smile.

"But BAD because we could be wasting valuable time!" Iceland himself spoke up, indignantly. Anger bubbled in his conscience. He feels like an invalid being spoken about like that.

"We will take that risk if it means protecting your health," Norway argued calmly and crossed his legs to relax against the chair. "Danmark? Sverige? Anything you two want to say?"

"Nej," Sweden replied, but Denmark coughed.

"Well, you see, I thought it's a great idea, because…" a smile grew on his face, "we could hunt for weapons and take the vaccines with us!"

"Hold on a second," Iceland jumped in, "why will we need them?"

"To heal us in case we get bitten?" Denmark frowned at him.

"No, that's not what I mean! What if there are survivors on this island that needs the vaccines like I did when I got bitten?" Iceland argued and everybody fell into silence.

"…They're pretty much dead now. You heard what Doctor Abe said. This has all been a scientific experimentation that went horribly wrong and your government is directly involved so I doubt that—"

Norway shushed him suddenly, but Iceland's eyes widened.

"They WHAT?!" he yelled and sat up to glare at the Dane. "What were they doing?! What the hell were they doing with zombies and all of this!?"

"Islanti, calm down, they'll hear us!" Finland hissed.

The Icelandic teen stared at him with momentary confusion before he heard from somewhere a low moan. It sounded distant, but then the door suddenly rattled and the men all gasped, hearts starting to race rapidly. The sound of splintering wood creaked from the door too as its being pushed against from inhuman strength.

"Shit…" Denmark growled and stood up quickly, "we barely have anything good to use as weapons, and now we're trapped!"

Sweden stood up with Finland too, still having his arms around him protectively.

"What now?" he mumbled, turning to Norway.

The Norwegian turned to Iceland, who is still in bed. "Be prepared to be carried by Danmark," Norway ordered and glanced at Finland and Sweden, "you two take up the rear of our group while I lead. We will not split up OR deviate from our destination for ANYTHING. Got it?!"

"What about the window?" Finland pulled himself from Sweden's arms and ran to the window close to Iceland's cubicle and yanked it open, breaking the safety lock on it so that it opened as wide as possible. The Finn glanced down, but suddenly backed up with a yelp. "BIG no! Drop's too high!" He almost looked like he was about to throw up. Norway groaned.

"Dammit, then we'll just have to force our way through the crowds outside!"

"Hold on, what about the ventilation system in the doctor's office?" Sweden suggested. The sound of wood slowly being splintered loudly is heard and they all hurried into the office, slamming the door shut. Luckily they kept the vaccines in the office.

Just as Denmark and Finland shoved the doctor's desk in front of the office door to barricade it, they heard the ward door being smashed to bits before ravenous shrieks filled the air. Those nightmarish screams sounded familiar to the two nations standing by the door worriedly.

"Those sound like Type 3 zombies…" Finland remarked with a small gulp.

"Shit… at least we got the vaccines in here…" Denmark sighed.

* * *

><p>Outside the office door, zombies of various types wandered inside, walking into the walls and tripping over the beds blindly or getting tangled in the curtains that separate the sectioned beds. But the Type 3 zombies, who appeared to be 'fresh' from death, were hunched over like apes while randomly grabbing and breaking things. One clawed the sheets of the bed where Iceland was lying moments previous while biting the pillow and shredding it with teeth that only got forced out of place and bounced on the bed and floor.<p>

"I'd hate to be in there right now…" the Danish country murmured and turned to see Sweden carrying Norway on his shoulders while he used a screwdriver on the vent situated close to the ceiling on the wall. Finland watched on while carrying the bag that Sweden has packed earlier.

"Where'd you get that Swiss Army Knife?" the Finn asked curiously.

"From Sveits himself. He said he appreciated the way I dumped the EU's membership deal in front of Germany, so he gave this one to me. It's second-hand," the Norwegian shrugged. Finland laughed softly.

Iceland and Denmark walked close to the other three, watching as Norway took out the last screw in the vent's cover and lifted it, placing it on a nearby bookshelf before Sweden knelt down to the ground to let the man climb off his back and he stood up straight.

"Now… I'll go first because I have the army knife. Island, you follow close behind while Finland goes next, then Sverige and then Danmark. Any objections?" Norway asked.

He was met with silence and then he dragged a wooden chair from the space where the desk used to be and pushed it against the wall.

"Okay… here I go. Remember, follow my lead. Anyone who falls behind will not be rescued – it will only put the rest of us at risk of being killed. We stick to the plan." With that, he stood on the stool and heaved himself into the wide space of the ventilation shaft.

He couldn't see ahead of him because of darkness, but he's sure that there are rooms where these pipes run through with grates covering any openings… he hopes that they'll provide some lighting on their way. He crawled further into the darkness, and glanced back to see Iceland crawl in after him.

"Scoot over. Finnland's coming," he warned.

Norway nodded and crawled further in, feeling his heart race a little. Behind him he heard Finland grunt as he barely managed to get into the vent, but he had a boost from Sweden as he held him up.

"I'm almost too fat," Finland groaned.

"You're not fat," he heard Sweden scold him, "you're cuddly."

"Ruotsi!" he snapped, turning bright red and he heard Iceland snort in front of him.

In the office, Sweden turned to Denmark as he held the emergency bag which contained the vaccines. The Dane raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to the vent with an amused grin.

"Don't be shy – I'm not gonna do anything to yer butt, however great it is," he snickered. But the Swede opposite him still maintained a cool stare.

"I don't like Norge's plan. He's not certain that any of us will make it," he murmured.

Denmark blinked at him. "But… we will make it altogether! It's you that's doubting him!"

"I just don't want any of us to take risks, but even those will be unavoidable." Sweden's hand dove into the bag and handed over something to Denmark. His eyes widened and he was going to yell at the Swede or punch him, but then Finland called from the darkness of the ventilation shaft.

"Come on, guys! Norja is moving away from us!"

Denmark growled at Sweden and snatched 3 vaccines off his hand, pocketing them. "Fine! But don't expect me to come running to you if you're in trouble!"

"No… but if Finland is in any danger, I want you to help him… please."

The Dane flinched at the plea and stared at Sweden. The Swede simply stared back, but with a new emotion to his expression that Denmark couldn't quite read for once.

* * *

><p>Norway grunted at the dull feeling in his elbows the longer he crawled in this ventilation shaft system. He moved over a few grates, but they stare directly into bedrooms where panicked visitors and surviving holidaymakers are trapped in. It was a miracle that they didn't hear 5 males creeping right over their heads. Some rooms were unlucky as zombies were milling around randomly, walking into items and knocking things over, but in one bedroom a young couple lay in bed together, sleeping… or so they seemed due to the bullet wounds in their own heads. Norway froze to survey the scene and Iceland bumped into his butt – the teen yelped and went bright red, backing up a little but stopped when he heard Finland ask him hurriedly what was wrong.<p>

"Noregur, what's wrong? Did we hit a dead end?" Iceland asked. Behind Finland, Sweden (followed by Denmark) caught up with them and stopped.

"No… but we're taking a break," Norway stated and got out his army knife to flick out a screwdriver and started to unscrew the grate. Iceland relayed the news back to Finland, who passed the information to Denmark and Sweden.

"Can we really afford to take a break?" Denmark asked.

"I guess we should just follow Norja's judgement for now…" Finland spoke quietly.

Holding onto the grate with one hand, Norway took out the last screw holding the cover in place and lowered his arm before throwing the grate onto the bed at the feet of the dead couple. The soft sound will not alert any zombies outside in the corridor. Quickly, Norway lowered his feet out the ventilation shaft's hole and fell through, landing on his feet with a thud. He grunted and rolled onto his side, feeling pain in his ankles, but at least he bent his legs as he landed so thankfully no ankles are twisted.

"Noregur! Are you alright?!" Iceland gasped and looked into the room, "are you hurt!?"

"No, I'm fine." But Norway sucked in a sharp breath as he stood up and his left ankle burned with pain. "I'll give you a boost to get you down."

He stood under the ventilation's hole and reached out his hands. Hesitantly, Iceland moved to sit down, feet dangling in the air as he edged lower until his shoes touched his brother's hands.

"Good. Now get off the edge."

Iceland took a breath and forced himself out the hole in the ceiling. Norway didn't take the whole weight of the teen, but he puffed out some air and bent his knees while Iceland awkwardly balanced on his hands and quickly jumped off to the floor. Iceland took a deep breath and pulled out a chair from the desk. "Or you could've used this chair."

When Denmark clambered out of the ventilation shaft, Norway and Finland were quietly looking at the bodies of a young couple. They seemed to be in their 20s and wore gold wedding rings as their hands were clasped together. Just holding hands. The husband held a gun in his left hand, but not the woman.

"The husband shot his wife… and then he killed himself," Finland murmured sadly. "Why?"

"They knew it's hopeless," Norway replied. He couldn't take his eyes off the scene. "Zombies are all over the place, there's no way of escape, so the only way to escape it all was death. They didn't want to turn into zombies. They chose to die on their own terms…"

Iceland listened to them as he stood by the balcony glass doors. This room is identical to the rooms that the Nordics stayed in, except the layout is mirrored. He glanced at the bed and the dead couple, but felt that the couple just holding hands isn't enough. Couldn't they have embraced before the husband pulled the trigger?

The teen walked over to the bed. The duvet sheets have been folded up to the foot of the bed and the pillows were standing up so the couple sat up at the time of their deaths. It all seemed too formal, too uptight.

"Noregur…" Iceland mumbled, "could we do something about those two?"

"They're dead, Island. There's nothing we could do for them."

"N-no, that's not what I meant… Finnland could still keep the gun, but I…" the teen feels foolish as he suggests his idea, "…make them comfortable? At least until we leave…"

Twice that day, Norway felt his heart break. He reached over to hug the younger male tightly, burying his face in his hair before nodding.

"Okay… Do what you can. Ask if you need help," Norway spoke softly, moving to hold his face. Iceland was going to refuse help, but then he thought it over and nodded.

"Could Svíþjóð and Danmörk lift their heads, and then…"

Iceland gave them all instructions and they followed without questioning him. Why they're trying to make a dead couple comfortable is beyond their imagination, but they kept up a respectful, similar silence that they'd exhibit at funerals of dead royals and prime ministers. Iceland unrolled the duvet up the bodies of the couple as they're now laying down close with their heads resting on the pillows placed under their heads. They may not be able to position them to embrace each other, but Finland turned their heads (carefully) so they are facing each other. Sweden entwined the fingers of the couple's joining hands before pulling back and the rest of the duvet finally covered their bodies. Safe and sound. Only their heads remain exposed, but the bullet wounds could still be seen as blood still caked their hair. Both of them are blonde-haired.

"Let me deal with those…" Iceland walked over to the dresser where the wife left her hairbrush and picked it up before carefully brushing the woman's hair over the head wound. Flecks of blood could still be seen, but at least the ugly wound is covered. The woman is beautiful once more…

The husband is more problematic as his hair is short and there is no excess hair to brush over to hide the wound, but then Finland produced a wet cloth that he got from the bathroom. The younger male accepted it and wiped away some blood, but the hole is still there. Iceland was about to give up with frustration when Sweden lifted the duvet and held the wife's hand (the one that isn't holding her husband's hand), moving it so that the hand is covering the wound of the husband's head. Iceland nodded gratefully at the Swede and he dropped the damp, bloody cloth into the rubbish bin.

To other people, the dead couple will look as if they're sleeping peacefully while holding hands under the duvet and the wife fell asleep caressing the husband's hair.

"...If only I know what their names are…" Iceland whispered to nobody in particular and Norway squeezed his hand.

"I know how you feel…"

Meanwhile, Finland examined the gun that the couple used to end their own lives. "Four rounds… better make good use of those."

"So, uh…" Denmark started gruffly, ruffling his own hair, "what now?"

It took a few moments until Norway replied with a soft sigh. "We rest. We still got half an hour…"

Finland had complained of feeling slightly ill from the stress of this whole misadventure, so he stepped outside onto the balcony while watching over the calm ocean. Taking deep breaths eventually helped relax his stomach, but hearing the low groans of the zombies wandering on the ground below stirred his fear and he sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead. Sweden approached him from behind silently and rested a hand on his shoulder, but it made the Finn gasp and spin around, clinging onto the balcony bars, but he sighed in irritation.

"You scared me! I thought you were… one of them…" he whispered, trying not to be loud. The Swede leant down and pecked his lips.

"I'm sorry. I was worried for you."

"'Was?'" Finland raised an eyebrow amusedly.

"AM – sorry," Sweden quickly apologised, but his boyfriend stepped close and hugged him, chuckling.

"Sorry, I was just teasing…"

"It's good that you're in a good mood in spite of what is going on…" Sweden wrapped an arm around the Finnish man's waist and looked down at the large crowds of zombies wandering around. "You're the reason I'm staying sane right now…"

"You're such a hopeless romantic, Sve," Finland smiled and leaned against him. But then Sweden turned to face him, taking his right hand in his while looking directly into his eyes.

"I'll protect you the best I can," the Swede murmured.

Finland nodded, whispering a "thanks" when the door to the bedroom opened with a squeak and they sharply turned, but it was just Denmark and Norway peeking outside. Sweden sighed heavily.

"Couldn't ya have warned us? We thought they were coming."

"They can't open doors, only break them in half," Norway commented, giving the dead couple lying in bed a glance. "Let's give them some peace and quiet and leave."

Denmark shut the door with a satisfied nod. "Ja, now is the time. The corridor is empty as my beer bottles after a night out."

"Nothing new," Iceland muttered, but Finland saw him smiling a little. The Finn decided to put that smile down to the fact that they're going to leave the hellish island soon, but he still couldn't stop worrying about the teen and the near-transformation he went through earlier in the day…

"Islanti, how are you feeling?" Finland asked, walking close to him. He noticed how pale the boy's skin is since the vaccine worked. Iceland frowned.

"I'm feeling fine, but stiff…"

Before Denmark could come up with a sex-joke, Sweden nudged his arm and gave him a warning glance. The Dane pouted and turned away.

"Well… if you're not feeling well, or if anything is worrying you—"

Iceland interrupted. "I know, I know; I'll tell if I feel like dying."

"Don't." Norway growled at his brother. "Don't you dare talk about dying lightly, Island." Iceland stared at him while he stood close to him and his brother held his shoulders. "You tell us WHEN you feel sick or you need help in ANY circumstance, understand?"

Iceland opened his mouth to protest, but Norway's grip on his shoulders tightened. "I said: understand?" he repeated, but more softly.

His teen brother simply nodded and walked away when those shaking hands let go of his shoulders. But Iceland didn't go far, as he just stood by the glass doors to the balcony, staring out at the sea.

"Fine…" he started, raising his voice so that everyone is looking at him, "but don't expect me to be completely honest when everybody else has been lying to each other."

The atmosphere tensed.

Norway felt something drop in his mind. Iceland somehow noticed his pupils dilating. He knows what the teen is talking about.

"Island…"

"Let's just go," Iceland interrupted again and walked past him to the bedroom door, opening it and stepping outside.

"Ice, wait!" Denmark yelped and ran after him, followed by Finland.

Sweden stared at Norway as he just stood there.

"What is he talking about?" Sweden murmured. Norway shrugged and proceeded to leave the room.

* * *

><p>"Geeze, Icey, there could've been zombies out here!" Denmark half-ranted and looked around the empty corridor. "You shouldn't run off like that! A zombie could be chewing your brains out…"<p>

"Well I'm fine now, aren't I?" Iceland muttered.

At that moment, Sweden and Norway stepped outside the bedroom, shutting the door. Sweden hoisted the bag of medical supplies carefully over his shoulder while Finland quickly checked that he still has the gun in his deep pocket.

Norway spoke lowly, "Shall we leave?"

"Plan of action, then!" Finland started with a smile, "we simply get to the helicopter pad and then we wait for Viro to come for us!"

"That sounds easy enough, but what if there are zombies ahead?" Norway asked. Denmark chuckled and nudged his elbow.

"I thought you said you don't believe in them?"

"I don't," the Norwegian huffed, crossing his arms.

"Let's get walking then!" Finland chirped and looked out one of the many wide windows lining the corridor. "I can see where the helicopter pad would be, but our best bet is to go onto the rooftop… besides, I got a gun now, so I'll deal with any problems…~"

"But the noise attracts zombies…" Iceland added. "But we can use that to our advantage… can't we?"

"I got it!" Denmark happily exclaimed, "I'll be back!"

With that, he ran back into the bedroom, leaving the door open. The other Nordics just glanced at each other, wondering what hare-brained scheme is being concocted in the Dane's mind. He only spent 10 seconds searching for what he was looking for, and came back carrying a small plastic bag full of glass stones. "These are just decorations for bathrooms, but if we grab handfuls for each of us, then we can create diversionary noises to lead the zombies away from us!"

Norway didn't know whether to be stony-silent or loudly praise Denmark for his idea, so instead he just reached out and took a handful of the colourful glass stones, slipping them in his pocket.

"Danmark… you… you should really think of more equally great ideas more often…"

Denmark glowed at that and smiled. "A kiss would be a nice reward~?"

Norway chuckled and shook his head while the others took stones of their own until they seem to have an equal amount each. As Iceland pocketed his share, he glanced at the fire alarm switch at the end of the corridor and noticed an emergency axe inside a glass case. Upon seeing that, he nudged Sweden's arm.

"I found you a Christmas present, Svíþjóð."


	12. Chapter 12

After they pocketed the glass stones in their pockets, the Nordics made their way down the corridor, but not before they suddenly heard a loud groan from behind a bedroom door and Denmark yelped a little, hiding behind Norway. The Norwegian sent him a small glare and he laughed nervously, standing up straight.

"Sorry~ I was taken by surprise," he chuckled. Norway rolled his eyes, but with a slight smile.

The door that the groaning came from is shut tight like it was locked from the inside.

"Looks as if someone got bitten and tried to barricade themselves so that they don't attack anyone," Finland remarked, sighing and pulled his gun from his pocket. Sweden rested his hand on his, lowering the gun.

"Deep breaths, Fin," the Swede remarked. Finland understood.

"I never thought that I'll be thinking of my military training so soon…"

The group left the corridor and into a large, empty hall that has mirrors as walls with the ceiling being just blank. But crashing and rattling can be heard from behind one of the mirrors, which seems to leads to a storage room as its locked from this side. Iceland looked at it worriedly.

"Stay quiet, everyone," he whispered and they tip-toed across the room warily, hearing the noises get louder and louder as a hysterical scream rose above the noise from within and the Nordics paused.

"There's someone alive in there!" Denmark hissed, but Norway seized his hand, shaking his head violently.

"Don't even think about it! Think about our own survival!" he warned.

"Come on, guys! Stick to the plan!" Iceland whined as quietly as possible and stepped away as swiftly and silently as possible towards the other end of the hall where a set of double doors are located at. Denmark reluctantly followed while the screams got louder from the closet door before silence reigned and he closed his eyes, sighing.

Iceland peeked out the window of the double doors and opened them to reveal another empty corridor. He walked a few steps into the corridor and picked up a bloodied kitchen knife off the floor alongside other kitchen cutlery, examining it. It came from a trolley used in the kitchens for room service, but it's been turned over onto its side with bowls broken on the floor.

"What's that?" Sweden asked just as he left the hall and stood behind the group. Iceland handed Denmark the bloody knife and he accepted it.

"You keep it, Danmörk," the Icelandic teen muttered, looking away, "you don't have a weapon, and plus you're keen on protecting us."

Denmark, without warning, just leaned down and put his arms around him and the teenage stiffened, eyes widening.

"Wh-what're you doing?!" Iceland yelped, trying to push him away, but Denmark just stared at him, holding the knife in his hand. Even Norway looked worried and physically wove his magic to flow to his hands to ready to attack, but Denmark let go of him with a goofy smile.

"Thanks, Icey! That's really considerate of you!" he thanked him gratefully. Iceland huffed.

"Whatever. Just don't do something stupid like dying…"

"Now let's move on, okay?" Finland quipped in cheerfully and walked past them casually. "After all, we're not far from reaching—"

_SMASH._

Suddenly, a room door smashed open besides Iceland as a Type 3 zombie charged out and seized the boy around the neck. The force of the zombie running and its weight combined barrelled them into a wall-sized window, smashing it instantly and they fell out together.

It happened so quickly, Norway didn't have time to react with magic. He ran to the obliterated window while screaming Iceland's name out and he gripped the jagged shards of glass, crying out. Denmark seized his waist and pulled him back, feeling monstrously furious at himself.

"ISLAND!" the Norwegian shrieked wide-eyed, trying to break out of the Dane's grip.

"It's too late!" Demark yelled, heart pounding, "come on! We stick to the plan! NOW!"

"I-islanti…!" Finland choked and covered his mouth, staring at the broken window and shivered all over.

Fear has crept into his heart, paralysing him. Sweden snatched his hand and suddenly pulled him along and ran down the corridor, just as the corridor doors behind them slammed wide open with more Type 3 zombies salivating and looking at them hungrily. Denmark growled, glaring at them and make a run for it while carrying Norway over his shoulder like he's a feather. The Type 3 zombies gobbled out random noises as they began to stumble and charge towards the group. Sweden kicked the door open to another giant hallway, where a group of zombies in the corner eating a recently-dead human looked up.

"Shit! Type 2s! Don't let them touch you!" Denmark ranted and carried on running, when Norway abruptly rolled off his shoulder and landed on his feet like an alert cat, glaring darkly at the mixed group of Type 3 and Type 2 zombies.

"You bastards killed my brother…" he snarled. A purple aura emanated from his hand and he waved it rapidly in front of him, sending a dark electrical shockwave spiralling into the monsters and they all flew back, crashing into the wall far from them. The force of the blow knocked parts of their limbs, but not their hungry mouths.

Norway spun and turned to the remaining Nordics. "Go! I'll hold them off!"

"No, Norge!" Denmark shouted and grabbed his hand, "you're coming with us! We got time!"

"Not Island!" Norway's voice cracked, snatching his hand away, "he has to be still alive! I need to go back for him!"

Finland stepped back, staring as the zombies worked out how to get to their feet. Sweden gripped his hand protectively, wielding the axe in his free hand.

"You've gone insane, Norge!" Denmark bellowed, trying to get some sense into him as he held his shoulders tightly. "We have to live on! He'll understand!"

The Norwegian only stared at him before raising both hands and resting them on Denmark's shoulders, quickly pulling him down to kiss him. The Dane blushed at the quickness before Norway parted an inch away from his lips, staring at his eyes. Tears were flowing down his cheeks. While they stared in each other's eyes, Finland decided to whip out his gun, firing one shot into the forehead of the nearest Type 3 zombie. Sweden stood beside him in a fighting stance, readying to strike advancing zombies.

"Island… I have to… go for him… he's everything to me…" Norway whispered.

"You're everything to me!" Denmark hissed, "you have to come with us and live!"

"GUYS!" Finland screamed and backed away swiftly upon seeing a horde of zombies charging towards them at the same time.

In the blink of an eye, Norway suddenly raised his hand, creating a magical bubble that enveloped Denmark, Sweden and Finland, much to their surprise. The bubble then shot out through the double doors at the other end of the hall at the speed of light and popped, dropping the three males to the ground. The doors glowed briefly as the males recovered from a brief bout of travel sickness.

Heart dropping, Denmark stumbled to the doors and tried to force them open, but they wouldn't budge. Norway's magic sealed them tightly.

Loud shrieks sharply echoed from inside the hall and Denmark stared wide-eyed as more zombies surrounded Norway. The man tried to fight them off all at once, sending sparks of magic shooting everywhere, but he was being overwhelmed. However, Norway's eyes seem to take on a violent shade of redness that he has never seen before. It was the look of a dying animal that hasn't given up fighting, no matter how hopeless the situation is, but hope ran dry when a zombie leaped on top of Norway unexpectedly and bit his face…

Sweden quickly yanked Denmark's shoulder, tearing his eyes off the horrific scene and forced him to run as the Norwegian's manic rants died down.

Denmark didn't relax. He just stared down at the floor as if he was dead. A hollow puppet. He simply allowed Sweden to drag him along beside a teary Finland until they made it to the end of the corridor where the fire exit door is. Sweden stopped and held his shoulder, shaking him slightly until the Dane tilted his head up.

"Danmark," Sweden said sternly, "…I am a hypocrite."

"You always were," Denmark spoke dully, with a growl creeping into his tone of voice. He yanked himself away from the Swede, glaring. "You should've… you… Island… IT'S YOUR FAULT THAT NORGE'S DEAD, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"

He balled his hand into a fist and charged, punching Sweden hard on his cheek. The Swede stumbled back, but did not fall over. His glasses flew off his face and landed on the ground with the right lenses shattering. Finland stood in the corner and looked away from them, hiding his face in his hands while trembling all over, quickly trying to comprehend the situation. Sweden didn't pinch his bleeding nose or touch his own bruised cheek; he just gazed at the Dane through his blurry vision. His grip on the axe loosened and it dropped the floor.

"…I can't live… without Norge either…" Sweden whispered, "I love him as much as you do."

Denmark flinched, eyes widening. Finland let out a shocked gagging noise and sharply stared at him. Sweden drearily carried on, not thinking of the consequences.

"I made love to him when his country became one with mine…" He still watched Denmark with a blank expression, "he begged for it. He felt alone. He made me promise to always stay loyal to him, even when we both found our own lovers. He called me his 'Plan Zero.' Even when we were dating someone else, we made secret visits to each other and—"

Denmark couldn't take it. He screamed out furiously and leapt forward again, knocking the taller male to the ground and punched his face again. "I FUCKING HATE YOU!"

"Tanska!" Finland yelped out, snapping out of his stupor, and stepped forward hesitantly, watching as Denmark slammed his fist on Sweden's face again, jerking his head to the side with a grunt. The Finn stopped short, unsure of what to do in spite of his anger.

Sweden coughed drily and squinted his eyes in pain, looking up at Denmark again.

"H-he feels so good… his whimpers…" he choked out.

"SHUT UP!" Denmark screeched and headbutted him. A crack rang out and Finland gulped, squeezing his eyes tightly and covering his ears.

Sweden's face, covered in cruises and blood, almost looked unrecognisable. His almost-closed eyes peeked at the enraged Dane, which only frustrated him even more and Denmark raised his fist. He is so angry that he can barely control his shaking body.

"Kill me… please… and protect… Timo…" Sweden murmured.

Denmark's hand dropped to his side weakly and he stared at the man below him. His eyes stung and he furiously wiped them, standing up. He didn't offer his hand to help Sweden up. He just walked past towards Finland, who gulped and stepped back in fear.

"Damn you, Sverige…" Denmark growled, glancing back at the Swede. His hand snatched Finland's tightly and the male tried to pull away, but Denmark's holding his hand tightly. "I'll protect your little prince, but don't think I'm doing it for you! I'm doing it because I want him anyway!"

Sweden only moved a little to lean against the window with a very small smile. Denmark's eyebrow twitched at that and he hissed at him. Finland wanted to run over, but his captor only yanked him back.

"Berwald!"

A clattering noise alerted them and the men all glanced over to the double doors at the far end of the corridor. The zombies poked their heads through, snarling and helplessly reaching out towards them.

"Thanks, Danmark… I…" Sweden whispered before coughing out, "Timo… I love you…"

The doors burst open. Without thinking, Denmark picked up Finland quickly and slammed through the fire exit door, opening it and disappearing up the stairs. The zombies began to run or crawl over towards Sweden, who simply dragged himself to his feet and picked up the axe in his hand as well as his glasses, putting them on.

"…Bring it on," he grumbled. But he stood up too quickly and stumbled a little with his mind swirling dizzily.

* * *

><p>Denmark panted heavily as he jogged up the stairs, carrying Finland over his shoulder without stopping at all. His footsteps thumped noisily on the stairs, but they couldn't see any zombies around at all. They passed other fire exits, but they were undisturbed. The Dane occasionally hears Finland cry a little, but he stormed on relentlessly until he made it to the top floor. He eventually caught up with his breath and slipped his companion off his shoulders and collapsed to the floor tiredly.<p>

Finland landed on his feet, but stumbled back against the solid door, wiping his eyes.

"Tanska…" his voice wavered. Denmark looked up at him.

"I'm sorry, Finland, but I HAD to get you out of there," he spoke up sternly. "Sverige was egging me on back there so that I'll get angry to carry you out of there. He was obviously lying about that stuff with Norge… I think…" He whispered the last part uncertainly.

"I just wish… that... Ruotsi… Norja… Islanti…" Finland looked down the stairs, sniffling. "We promised to stay together in a group!"

Denmark sucked in a breath and stood up quickly. "I know, Fin, but when Island… got caught… that's more than enough to break us apart."

"We have to go back!" Finland burst out and dove to the stairs, but Denmark angrily seized his arm.

"It's too late! You won't find anything!" he shouted and yanked him back. Finland is shaking all over. "We have to move on now! We have to live! We must survive!"

"Tanska…" the other male whimpered, hiding his face, "I… I can't believe it all! I must be dreaming! I drank too much vodka and I fell into some weird coma and now that I'm self-aware that I'm in a coma I'll never be able to leave unless I kill myself!"

"FINLAND!" Denmark ranted and suddenly slapped the other's face. Finland whimpered and thumped against the wall, holding his cheek while hot tears ran down his face.

"Don't you fucking dare talk about suicide at a time like this!" Denmark screamed at him and gripped his shoulders tightly. It forced the male to shakily stare at the Dane. "Leave this place with me, then it'll be over! Then you'll wake up and everyone will be at your bedside!"

Finland just sniffled and wiped his eyes, leaning forward to hug him tightly and burying his face in his chest. "I'm sorry, Tanska… I'm so sorry…!"

Denmark looked down, feeling his rage drain away to be replaced with guilt and sadness. He embraced the Finn and patted his hair gently, murmuring apologies until he calmed down. Even when Finland stopped trembling, Denmark still held him close. It is so quiet, that they both can feel their heartbeats pattering away.

"Finland, we better move on quickly," he spoke after moments of silence, not breaking the hug. "Estland will have arrived by now at the helicopter pad. He'll rescue us."

Denmark broke the hug and turned to push down the fire exit bar on the door, forcing it open and peeked in, but there were no zombies around in the corridor, which is identical to every other corridor in the hotel.

"Alright, the coast is clear…" he murmured and walked along.

Finland followed him, nervously looking around while his held the gun in his hand.

"I should've used my gun back there…" he murmured.

"Four bullets wouldn't have made any difference. There were too many of them for you to take on… Is the safety off?" Denmark suddenly asked without looking back.

"Yes… I'll be careful," he replied. "And I only have 3 bullets, by the way."

"Don't be. If you see a zombie, wreak havoc on it."

They walked along slowly, anticipating any sudden attacks, but nothing happened until they reached the double doors.

"Man, why does the layout have to be so complicated?" Denmark laughed. "Double doors everywhere… But at least we're closer to the elevator to get to the rooftop!"

"Y-yeah…" Finland forced himself to smile, "I'm glad you're with me, Tanska. Thank you…"

The Dane chuckled and brushed his hair back before reaching out to Finland with a bright grin. "You can trust me to help out anytime! Except if it's housework!"

Finland laughed a little, but froze when he heard scrabbling noises from behind a hotel room door nearby. His pulse raced and he immediately stood beside his companion. Denmark glared at the suspected door with a hiss.

"Dammit – let's run!"

The two escaped through the double doors just as a Type-3 zombie crashed through the hotel room door. It did not see the two, however and stood there making confused drizzling noises.

Thankfully, the large hall was empty as Denmark and Finland ran inside it, but fear is forcing them to keep running without thinking.

"T-Tanska, we're almost there!" Finland said.

"I know – almost there, then we can leave this nightmare!" Denmark laughed out.

They didn't slow down when they ran through a set of doors to reach another corridor. Fatal mistake.

Type 1 Zombies roamed around the corridor dully but the noise of the two Nordics alerted them. There are 6 of them in total and they are looking directly at the two. But despite them being Type 1, they seemed to have reached the final stages of decomposition as they sluggishly walked towards them, groaning. Almost all of their bones are exposed with the last remaining slithers of muscles clinging to the skeletons, and their faces are sagging as if melting.

"Can we just barge through them?" Finland whispered to Denmark, itching to run.

"Wait, Fin…" Denmark unexpectedly smiled and dug his hand in his pocket, quickly tossing something towards a presidential suite door. Not just something but rather it's a handful of glass beads that the Dane took from the bathroom earlier.

Like a charm, the zombies deviated from their path and reached to touch the door, scrabbling at the wood instead of looking at Finland and Denmark. With a grin and a thumbs-up, the Dane pulled at Finland's hand and they hurriedly strolled past the group, unharmed. They made it to the familiar grey elevator and pressed the button. It didn't open straight away.

But the door beside them blasted open.

A Type 3 zombie screeched and seized Denmark's arms, baring its teeth at him and the man grunted. Finland backed up in shock and yanked his gun from his pocket.

"Finland! My pocket! The knife!" he yelled, holding the zombie in place with difficulty.

Finland gulped and reached over, yanking the knife from his pocket and suddenly stabbed the zombie in the head. The skull cracked, but the zombie is still active and snarling. It all happened in a confusing blur, and the corridor isn't offering much space.

"FINLAND!"

The hysterical yell paralysed Finland and he pressed his hands to cover his mouth, staring in horror.

Denmark just simply shoved the monster away with a growl. It stumbled back into the room it came out of and crashed to the floor.

He slowly turned to look at Finland helplessly as he raised his bloody arm.

The elevator let out a cheerful 'ding' noise and the doors opened slowly. Finland's eyes stung and he reached out gingerly to touch the silent Dane's hand. The hand gripped his tightly as tears ran down the Finn's cheeks and he held it to his cheek.

"Tanska…" he sniffled, remembering something. "The vaccines… we don't… they're…"

"I know…" Denmark sighed shakily and leant down to kiss his wet cheek, "I'm sorry, Timo… I wanted to get out with you no matter what, but I don't want to put you in danger either…"

Finland wasn't bothered by the kiss. He only responded by gazing at him and reached up on tip-toe to kiss his cheek in return.

"Let us… die together or something…" he murmured and his bare fingers brushed against the gun handle. Denmark shook his head violently. His body's trembling uncontrollably. The effects of the virus are rapidly working their way into his system.

"N-n-n-no!" the Dane hissed, squeezing his hand, "You… live! Live! Gnnnh…." His throat clenched up painfully; it felt worse than having a sore throat and a migraine at the same time, it's mayhem on his nerves.

The doors behind them began to slide towards each other to slowly close again. Denmark saw this, and suddenly pushed Finland. The male yelped in shock and tripped backwards over his feet, landing inside the elevator. Denmark's smile was lopsided, but just as the Type 3 zombie charged at him, the Dane grabbed its neck with surprising speed and yanked out the knife from its head before tossing it into the elevator just before the doors closed.

The knife clattered on the floor and Finland began to yell out, pounding at the doors.


	13. Chapter 13

_**A/N 26/03/2015: I re-vamped ALL the chapters, so it might be best to read from the start! I added a few lines, and this story will soon come to an end. I might actually finish it by the end of the year this time! *laughs* Enjoy reading! (And this is NOT the final chapter!)**_

* * *

><p>Finland panted, back pressing tightly against the elevator wall and gripped the large, bloodied kitchen knife with a fierce hold. The elevator doors opened and he stumbled out still in shock from earlier. In front of him, a hoard of smelly, groaning zombies advanced towards him, raising their arms to ready themselves for grabbing their latest meal.<p>

Tears pricked the corners of Finland's eyes as his whole body shook uncontrollably from the events in the past many hours.

He can still remember Norway drowning in the sea of decomposing humans as his magic failed him, uncharacteristic screams piercing the air after yelling for the rest of the group to run on…

He can still remember a fresh zombie leaping out of nowhere, gripping Iceland's neck as they tumbled out of a window from with 4th floor window exploding into billions of glittering shards…

He can still remember Sweden demanding Denmark to take care of Finland before running towards the dining hall to slow the hoard of zombies down, seizing a fire emergency axe as a weapon… and he cannot forget Denmark kissing his cheek, gently telling him that he'll be fine… After Denmark himself has been bitten…

The elevator doors opened. He's at the top floor. He just has to get the stairs to the roof and it'll be over… But there are zombies in the corridor, turning slowly to watch him. With a deep breath, he stepped out the elevator, mentally preparing himself to take on these fuckers.

Adrenaline raced around Finland's body as he shakily held the knife, staring at the rotted faces of the zombies, lights of the corridor flickering. The elevator doors behind him unexpectedly closed, leaving him feeling more trapped than ready.

'_Where did it all go wrong?'_ Finland thought, whimpering, closer to tears than ever.

A skeletal hand reached out, flesh dropping off the bones to touch Finland's hand. In his memory a bloodied glove went to touch his chest where his heart was cut into for a cruel experiment.

And then something strange happened to his mind – a powerful force that he expelled from his current state of mind decades ago suddenly snapped from its restraints of reason and merged with his current memories, creating a link between the past that he knew and the past that he tried to forget.

His sanity broke.

He no longer sees zombie, he sees Red Army soldiers, all thirsty for his blood with no regard to their personal safety. He is like a lamb being cornered for slaughter with no chance of escape or survival.

Finland shrieked insanely and slashed at the zombie's hand, only deflecting it away harmlessly before everything blacked out. His memories rushed into his conscience too fast. His knees hit the ground hard, jerking his mind back into reality and forced him to lie down on the floor to play dead in an act of quick thinking. He has done such a thing long ago too. It saved him.

After a few moments of lying on the ground, Finland's pounding mind cleared when he noticed the hoard of zombies scuffling past him. He drew in a sharp breath and immediately seized the large knife beside his body and leapt to his feet, avoiding the bony, rotting hands as he carried on running down the corridor. His blood and adrenaline electrified his body with every step he took. Suppressed memories poured into his actions, unleashing the noises of heavy gunfire despite there being no gunfight going on in reality. He could practically feel bullets whizzing past his face.

But after the long sprint, his adrenaline and the memory-rush weakened. However, he carried on stumbling down the corridor, no longer bothering to fight those things and more determined to protect himself like he promised Denmark… Somehow, he remembers making a promise to the Dane.

Finland finally reached the staff elevator, quickly pressing an emergency button and he spun and looked down the corridor, where the walking corpses are stumbling a little towards his direction.

"Come on… come on…" he mumbled, wishing the damn elevator would hurry up and-

The steel doors opened abruptly and Finland paused, checking there are no zombies inside, before sighing in relief and he ran in. He even looked up to make sure there are none clinging to the ceiling – but how would they do that? – and held his breath as the hands of those inhuman monsters stuck out, reaching for him, when the doors closed in the nick of time, leaving Finland in the peaceful confine of this elevator…

He took the next few moments to catch his breath and calm his shaking knife-wielding hand. Finland's heart still raced and while desperately wishing that he had never agreed to go to this hellish island… He's already been to hell and back years ago, he feels that the Fates should never have put him in a situation like this again. But then again… zombies are not that different from the enemies he knew and killed.

Only a tight resolve could keep him going now. With the resolve to survive instead of quitting steeling his spirit, he took as deep breath as the elevator stopped. Breathing deeply slowly brought on a feeling of his spirit returning to his body, reclaiming the body of a war-battered soldier who has seen too much. Holding the knife out in front of him, he mentally prepared himself by sharpening his focus and steeled resolve to get out of here alive no matter what.

The doors opened suddenly and he jumped forward, yelling a battle cry and someone else shrieked . A human shriek.

Finland stopped and froze as he finally recognised the person in front of him. Memories of war drained from his mind.

"Eduard!" Finland cried happily, feeling tears sting and gather in his eyes, feeling his heart warm up. He ran towards him with a spring in his step—

Until a pair of rotten hands wrapped around Estonia's neck from behind and a load groan wailed. The man's eyes widened.

"Timo, I'm sorry-"

"NO!" Finland shrieked and charged even faster with a tight grip on the knife. He seized the man's shirt with his left hand and pulled him, before thrusting the sharp instrument forwards without taking aim and it dug deep between the zombie's eyes up to the hilt. The sound of bones crunching made him wince and stumble back, letting go of a shocked Estonia's shirt as he turned to look at the collapsing zombie as it made its last groan.

"Holy Enigma Code on a stick…" he stared, glancing at Finland. "How did you do that? I have never seen that happen before…"

Finland only stared ahead of him out to the sunny horizon before his legs gave way and he fell to the cold floor, unconscious…

* * *

><p>He opened his eyes slowly, taking in the dim light from a candle nearby beside his bed. Finland took a deep breath and exhaled as he sleepily looked up at the blank ceiling.<p>

The ceiling's blankness seems familiar to him…

His heart began to beat wildly and his eyes opened; he sat up quickly and looked around, only to see that he is back in the hospital wing, all alone and in the dark with nothing but a small candle silently giving out its warm, gentle light.

"Guys…?" he croaked and pushed the duvet cover off him as he rested his feet on the floor. He was still wearing his normal clothes from earlier, but… the clothes smell as if they've been recently washed and put on him, before he was laid back in the same bed that Iceland almost died on…

A clinking noise alert him as he moved his leg and realised that there's an anklet around his left ankle, chaining him to the bedpost. But the chain was reasonable long, so he decided to hold his breath and calm down. The chain was long enough for him to check out the doctor's office. He opened the door and peeked through the gap to see nothing unusual apart from the air ventilation grate still lying on the floor from where Norway left it when he unscrewed it off the wall. The desk wasn't in the usual place, but rather it got shoved back to its original position instead of being against the door like how they left it before…

Finland tried to think carefully despite his sleepiness and growing stress.

"How did I get back in the hospital wing…?" he mumbled and went back to sit on the bed.

"I found you, of course," a voice spoke and he gasped, pressing against the wall.

"Es…Viro?" he gulped, unsure of the visitor.

"No, no, it's me, Doctor Abe," the doctor chuckled, stepping towards the candlelight so he could be seen better. But his face looked mangled like his misshapen limbs. Skin somehow managed to grow over the massive gashes on his limbs, but distorted the shapes so his muscles seem a bit bloated. His labcoat was shredded, but it's still intact.

Finland couldn't believe his eyes. His mouth hung open.

"I thought you were dead…"

"Well… I could've, but I haven't," Abe shrugged.

"Where's Viro?" Finland asked anxiously, suddenly thinking of the bespectacled young man.

"Who?"

"H-he was with me… I know he was! He was up on the helicopter pad—"

But Dr Abe interrupted, holding his hand up calmly. "When I got up there to see you, there was nobody else apart from you and a zombie."

Finland gulped, paling and began to shiver all over. "B-but… I was so sure… I saved him from a zombie and I st-stabbed it…"

"You were very brave, surviving for this long," Dr Abe spoke soothingly and reached out to touch his shoulder gently. "I'm sad to see that your friends are no longer with you."

Sadness overcame the Finn and he dropped to the floor, staring at the tiles with tears forming in his eyes.

"But… But…" he whispered and trailed off, throat tightening and he covered his face, sobbing into his hands as he thought of his family and Sweden.

"I am exceedingly sorry," Dr Abe murmured as he held out a piece of bread to the young man. "Please eat, you'll need your strength if you want to get out of here."

"NO!" Finland yelled, wide-eyed and slammed himself against the wall in panic. "DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Dr Abe didn't object and curled his thin lips, tossing the bread over his shoulder and into a bin with a noisy clatter. The bread was stale.

"I'm afraid… that I'll have to."

Fear glaciated in Finland's stomach at the chilling words.

"W-why? And how d-did you survive that zombie attack…?" he stared.

Dr Abe… cackled.

"I survived thanks to Matthias… or is it Denmark?"

Confusion swirled in his mind. Finland gulped. "How did you know his real name?"

"I actually wanted to do some experiments on the nation representatives for a while now," Dr Abe began, "so when I established a surprise pop-up discount holiday booth, imagine my surprise when Denmark came by and bought 5 tickets! He was spouting all this rubbish about 'uniting the family under the sun' so I gave him those tickets for free. I used surveillance to track down the nations of the world, where they live and where they have world meetings at. I WOULD have organised a kidnapping, but imagine if a nation went missing… that would spark a worldwide panic, wouldn't it?"

Finland blankly nodded, staring at him in disbelief.

"So I used a less conventional method – luring in nations with a promise of an island holiday. So I distributed 1000 tickets, which were taken up by normal humans with only 5 of them being nations."

'_So only us Nordics got dragged into this…'_ Finland thought with relief, but then fear returned when Dr Abe chuckled.

"My organisation initially carried out a plan to kidnap holiday-goers in small numbers to experiment on and then stage a massive gas explosion 'accident' when we got all the results. We knew what happens when the zombie-viruses and parasites infect animals and humans… but not immortal nations," he carried on. "All this time, since you and your friends arrived on the island, we had cameras watching you every step of the way. We saw everything."

"How did you survive that monkey attack?!" Finland demanded, "Tanska killed you like you asked him to!"

"I DID ask him," Dr Abe chuckled. "I took a vaccine long before the monkey attacked me, before I met you and your friends. The vaccine was a risky investment, but it definitely worked on me. I told Denmark to kill me because I found out that when a vaccinated person dies from a zombie bite of a specific strain, they come right back to life!"

The shocking revelation stunned the Finn. "But that doesn't make sense…"

"Hm?" Dr Abe hummed amusedly.

"I saw Islanti get killed by that security guard, but then he suddenly leaped up and attacked him like he became a zombie!" Finland explained, breaking out into a cold sweat at the memory. "He wasn't vaccinated!"

"No, no, dear boy, you're very wrong there," the doctor contradicted him, "he WAS vaccinated. Remember the gas that the one nurse gave him? That wasn't a weapon – it was a prototype vaccine against the type 3 zombie strain. And it worked, eh?"

"I-I guess so…" Finland's voice trailed off. The doctor continued.

"So anyway… while we have conducted a successful experimentation on one of you Nordics, we still needed more results from different nations. I want to know what factors influence the effectiveness of the vaccine, such as body type, height, age, sex, blood type… Iceland gave us tremendous results, however shocking his behaviour was. It was just like the chimps we experimented on."

"S-so now what?" Finland growled, "the others are dead, except for me so you have NOBODY else to experiment on!"

"On the contrary, dear boy," Dr Abe chuckled with a devious smile, "I have my soldiers securing the hotel right now. Survivors are still gathered in their rooms, waiting to be told to come out and play again in the sun. Resistors will be the first ones to be experimented on." Finland's heart dropped to the pit of his stomach.

"Dr Abe… why are you doing this?" he whispered. The older man gave him a cold stare.

"Do you know how it feels to be a brilliant scientist, only to have your name soiled when the Soviet Union collapsed?"

Finland shook his head.

"I came from America to live in the Soviet Union. I fancied a change of pace in my life, so I went to live there with my new wife and I became recruited for human experimentation. …You used to be a soldier – what scares you the most about warfare?"

The sudden question caught Finland off guard and he frowned.

"It's…" the Finn began, trying to remember his past only to think about Sweden. "It's the thought of never seeing your family again."

"No. Not that."

"Then… is it fear?"

"Bingo," Dr Abe whispered as he turned away to open a leather suitcase, full to the brim with brand-new syringes filled with strange liquids. Finland's interest piqued. "And what if you take 'fear' out of a soldier?"

"Then… You have someone is never afraid to die or get injured," Finland explained out of realisation. "But fear is what makes us cautious, fear is what makes us think of our safety more carefully." Dr Abe seemed to ignore his last sentence as he spoke on.

"The government at the time wanted me to create a breed of super-soldiers, soldiers who'll never have a fear of dying," he clarified. His expression turned grim as he examined a syringe that he took out the suitcase. "But just as I discovered some strange pathogens from Iceland, the Soviet Union collapsed. Scientists were being hunted down by intelligence services and killed or smuggled to former Union states like Kazakhstan or into Eastern Europe. Some were lucky enough to be given citizenship in America to spill any secrets they know of the Soviet Union and live their lives in luxury…

"But I don't want a life of luxury. After my wife got killed by dissidents, I swore to her corpse that I'll do her and Stalin proud – if the world was one big country, then nobody would ever be in conflict with interests. Religion would no longer be taught in schools, only logic and reason. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, on the planet will know what's right and what's wrong, and think similarly…"

"That's a very huge goal, Dr Abe," Finland murmured, "to unite the whole world will take a lot of work to do." Finland watched the syringe in Abe's hand the whole time, thinking of what the liquid is and desperately trying to formulate a plan to escape from the restraint on his ankle at the same time.

"It is, isn't it?" the doctor laughed lowly, "it will take a lifetime to change the entire world when my plans go accordingly. But even if I die now, I'll die knowing that my research has birthed extremely valuable results that'll be enough to have the world leaders falling to my feet. I have followers working for me who also have similar beliefs, not just here, but abroad as well. A fair few politicians even gave me kind donations towards my research…"

Finland's blood bubbled. He really wants to know who the traitors are that inadvertently got him here in the first place, but his mind was more focused on escaping.

Dr Abe slowly walked towards him and pushed a buzzer on a walkie-talkie in his pocket. A security guard walked into the hospital wing and stood aside with their gun pointing at Finland. The nation froze, staring down the barrel of their pistol.

"I've done enough talking, now be a good boy and lie down while I use this to experiment on you…"

Looking down to the floor dully, Finland sat down dejectedly, thinking of… everything that has occurred in his life up until now. He has given up.


	14. Chapter 14

"_Yo."_

_Grumbling, Finland woke up and found himself lying on the ground. To his surprise, he could only see darkness as far as his eyes could reach, yet he can see his own body without an aid of a light._

_But he isn't the only one in this dark void, there's another individual standing tall in front of him. A clone of himself watched him lazily with bright red eyes._

_Finland sat up, staring at this clone in interest._

"_Who are you?" he asked. The clone rolled his eyes._

"_I'm you, stupid. Listen, you don't have much time left – well, same for me – but someone is cutting up your body and it's starting to make ME feel uncomfortable."_

_Finland racked over his memories, trying to think of the last place he was at before ending up in this dark world that he presumes is his subconscious. He remembers going on a holiday to a desert island via airplane, but that was it… But wait, he can see the smiles of his family distort to sadness. And then he saw undead humans walking around, eating the living…_

"_Not quite like Talvisota, is it?" the red-eyed Finland mentions with a bored tone of voice as Finland scrabbled to his feet in panic at the memories. "I didn't even realise that I lost the war until I woke up in this place, watching you live your happy-go-lucky life with your husband."_

"_Red!" the real Fin exclaimed, suddenly thinking the nickname is appropriate, "what's going on? Why am I here? Am I dead?" Hope began to slip away from his heart. He could feel his real heart hammer from behind a cross-stitch of messy scars on his chest._

"_You're unconscious thanks to that rat," Red hissed, crossing his arms and walking around Finland, studying his unclothed body, "he's cutting your body apart and stitching it together again. You can't see it or feel it, but when you wake up, you'll be in for a world of PAIN."_

_Finland thought of his family and his look of panic dropped to hopelessness. Red narrowed his eyes at him. Red himself has a stronger build than Finland and his hair is slightly longer, long enough to be tied back into a ponytail with his fringe almost covering his eyes. Finland recognised him as his persona from the Winter War… or Talvisota in Finnish._

"_Although it's not as bad as with Venäjä, eh?" Red added sympathetically, placing his hand on Finland's chest where his heart was beating wildly, making him flinch. "He only cut to your heart because there was a bullet in there. He wanted you alive, so he kept you alive."_

"_Really…?" Finland gazed at him doubtfully. Red nodded._

"_You REALLY suppressed a lot of your memories from the time we lived with Venäjä. I couldn't, because YOU lived with him and all the bad memories went to my side instead. You saw him as a tenacious man who should never be trusted, I saw him as someone I can trust to keep me alive."_

_His counterpart looked down to the ugly curve scar in front of his heart. "I still don't trust him. I can befriend him, however awkward our friendship is, but I won't ever get close enough to trust him. He did this to me among other things I haven't told Berwald…"_

"_What, torture?" Red snorted and Finland shut his eyes, turning away. "He didn't fuck you, at least. I'm surprised he didn't, because that would cause maximum damage to your mind."_

"_Shut up…" Finland mumbled, hands covering his ears, but he can hear everything in this world clearly down to every individual pumping sound of his pulse. His cruel counterpart snickered._

"_You think torture is the worst in the world?" He raised his hand to count while using his fingers. "Waterboarding, wounding, electrocution, hanging from your feet, strangling… what am I missing?"_

"_SHUT UP, RED!" Finland yelled, steeling his glare. "If you're not going to help, then fuck off!"_

"_Ooooh watch your language, Venäjä would put you in the Red Room if he heard you say that," Red grinned._

"_HE'S NOT HERE," Finland ranted, "He can't touch me anymore, not again!"_

"_I still dream of him doing that to me, though," Red sighed, eyes fluttering, "too bad I only took over your body for a short number of years. While you were asleep in those days, I'm awake, and while you were awake I'm asleep. But when you sleep, I go have fun with Venäjä…~"_

_Finland doesn't want to ask, but he does anyway with growing horror. "What do you do with him?"_

"_I just tie him up and waterboard him," the Red Finn sniggered._

_That helped Finland realise something, eyes widening._

"_Was THAT why he locked me up in the prison cell every night?!" He now vaguely remembers Russia having a strange look mixed with terror and anger whenever he led Finland to the dreaded prison cells beneath his massive house._

_Red laughed, confirming his fears._

"_Red, he could've killed me and blamed ME for what you've done," Finland spoke quietly, glaring._

"_Oh, but Venäjä KNEW that we both exist in one body. But I actually helped your sorry butt out, because if I didn't have the guts to torture him, then he would've carried on doing the same to you," Red explained proudly. "Well, even if it was a couple of years after you were first forced to live with him – it was always tiring hearing you sob at night."_

"_Red…" Finland murmured, "how did… how do you live in me? Where did you come from?"_

_Red paused, staring off into the distance to think deeply._

"_Always. Uh, wait… I'm not sure, actually," he shrugged. "Although my earliest memory was me observing you snipe a lot of enemies in the midst of Winter. You wore one of those white coats and hats for camouflage too. You looked so happy, so I think that's how I was born. I was born from your desire for shooting the enemy."_

_But Finland's shoulders sagged in disbelief. "I never took pleasure in killing people."_

"_Come off it!" Red snapped, "I SAW you smile and whisper the number of people you sniped! You forgot your happiness because you realised how wrong it felt…" His voice dropped to a whisper and leaned to Finland's ear. "…So wrong that you had a moral dilemma crisis, and forced all those judgements and feelings aside in order to clear your mind – THAT was when I formed."_

_Finland turned to meet his eyes._

"_So… you're a bad version of me?"_

"_No, no, Finny," Red sighed and pulled away, "don't you get it? We've been apart for so long, that you assumed that you're always a good guy while I'm the bad guy. We never even spoke properly like this before, so hi, thanks for naming me Red because that's actually a cool name for me."_

"_Red, what's the point?" the other male spoke sharply. "Stop changing the subject!"_

"_Alright, alright!" Red groaned, "long story short – what you considered evil about yourself is all pushed onto me as you perfected yourself. And now that you're dying, our personalities are meshing together and now we're standing here in an internal battle to see who gets to live to take over the body and fight to survive!"_

"_But there's no point," Finland whispered, "the others are dead. I have nothing. They were everything to me. You wouldn't understand."_

"_Oh, but I do," Red purred, "I still have Venäjä to go to once I kill you."_

_Ice dropped in Finland's stomach. Now he realises why he's here._

"_Maybe he doesn't want to see you… it would only affect real-world relationships between our nations!" Finland said nervously, "if you were to attack Venäjä, then his government will put pressure on my country or worse, start throwing rockets or bombs without warning! Racism will be on the rise, and you know what happened the last time racists ruled over Europe!" Thoughts of a potential war shivered his bones. Tensions are high enough. All that needs to happen now is…_

_Red shrugged._

"_Like I care about the people. I may not be a complete opposite of you, but I've been my own person for a long time. Thanks to you, I'm a living individual with memories of my own. All I need now is your body." He spoke in a calming tone of voice like how you would speak to a wounded animal before treating it's injuries or putting it out of it's pain. He took deliberate steps towards Finland, hand outstretched until it touched his cheek._

"_Red…" he breathed, "…I think I want to live."_

"_Pfft," his cruel counterpart snorted, "only because you don't want the humans to go into war again. Don't forget, there'll ALWAYS be war as long as humans are around. It's practically human nature."_

"_That's true…" Finland murmured sadly, still maintaining eye-contact, "but as long as I'm alive with other nations, we'll work hard together to make the world peaceful. Hope is always alive."_

"'_Hope?'" Red glowered with a snarl, "you've been tortured, beaten, starved and left for dead thanks to humans! And you're in this situation now because of some crazed human with an outdated agenda! You may love the humans, but I don't! They're the reason why Venäjä is always sad! You're just like those goddamn humans! You should just drop dead now!"_

"_NO!" Finland shouted in his face and seized his wrist, bending his hand back. Red stared at him, unmoving. "I'm NOT going to die now! And I'm NOT going to kill you either! I want to live!" He shoved Red hard in the chest, hard enough to make the Finnish clone stumble back._

"_As long as I'm alive, then I'll work my ass off every second, every minute and every day of my life to make this world a better place! The people AND the planet are worth protecting! It's the same world us nations shared with the people since birth! As long as we live, it shows that history exists in our countries, and we can LEARN from the mistakes our people made! We learn from the past and forge a better future in the present!" He spoke on determinedly. "Ruotsi, Islanti, Norja and Tanska… They love how peaceful things are compared to decades ago and that's because their people learned from the wars and created better societies! And if there's anyone who wants to bring Europe and the world down in flames, then they'll have to go through me first! I want to protect the humans because it is my responsibility and because it means serving my friend's memories!"_

_Finland stopped talking, taking a few deep breaths while glaring at Red. The Finn's hands were balled into fists, ready to attack his Red counterpart and fight to the bitter end, but Red did nothing but stand there, staring at him incredulously._

"_Even if the humans hurt you… you're still willing to live just because those other idiot Nordics inspired them?"_

"_Yes!" Finland snapped, "I'm angry and furious that I couldn't protect my friends from those zombies, but now I see how stupid it is to think that they're my ONLY reasons of living! I can't believe that I was so willing to die just because they're no longer around!"_

_Red's lips lifted into a gentle smile and he relaxed._

"_Timo… You can still be with them. Your best chance to die is now while your body can't feel anything. I can take care of the humans for you in exchange for your body. I will also treat Venäjä with the respect he deserves. While I do all that, you'll be with Islanti, Norja and Tanska, and even your husband, Ruotsi, in the afterlife."_

_Finland's eyelids drooped at the proposition, thinking it over again and again. A feeling of sadness returned along with a deep sense of loneliness. It's true… there's nobody that he can ever be as close to as he was with Sweden and the other 3 Nordics. He lost his family. Nothing can ever bring them back. Memories won't be enough anymore to support his wavering strength._

_He stepped towards Red, lifting his hands to hold his cheeks to make him look at him in the eyes._

"…_Promise?" Finland whispered. Red smiled sweetly._

"_Ja…" he replied, resting his hands on the crook of his neck, readying to twist._

_But Finland only smiled with tears gathering in his eyes, caressing Red's cheek with his thumb._

"_Oh, Red…" he breathed, leaning his forehead against Red's before smiling softly. "…Nope."_

_Red blinked. "What—"_

SNAP.

_Red's body swiftly collapsed to the floor, neck twisted at an impossible angle. Frightened red eyes stared up at him. He couldn't feel the rest of his body._

"_S-Su-Suomi…" Red rasped, struggling to breathe from his broken collarbone and broken neck… "Shit… How did you… How…"_

"_I don't say 'Ja', I say 'kyllä,'" Finland answered coldly, kneeling down. "Don't think that talking like Ruotsi will pull me in on your little game. Thanks to you, I'm going to live when I'm not sure that I want to. It's people like you that I want to eradicate. I will make this world a better place by force by killing people who threaten the security of the world."_

"_T-Timo…" Red hissed again, but Sweden's voice shone through. "Don't… kill me… please…"_

_Finland rolled his eyes and lifted his foot, resting it on Red's head before gradually adding pressure._

"_I told you," he growled, "speaking like him with NOT stop me." His foot pressed hard and Red's throat trembled with a gargled howl. The pressure on his neck is building up too._

"_B-but even if you escape-" Red gasped, chest heaving, "—how will you escape from Dr Abe?!"_

_Finland took his foot off his head and kneeled down, grabbing Red's long hair._

"_Then we'll have to work together. Become one with me, and we'll share a body at the same time. With my strength and yours combined, I think we'll make a decent team."_

_Red's horrified crimson eyes stared into Finland's calm and tired blue eyes._

_Never before has he seen Finland at his most dangerous state – a state of a nation that can no longer be controlled with morals, ethics or the law._

"_You… monster… You're outta control…"_

_Finland snickered._

"_See? We're already becoming one. You're dying, Red, and that lets me have control. Just one more minute, and we'll wake up together…"_

"_S-Suomi!" Red gasped out, "h-help me… I don't want t-t-to die…"_

_Finland's grin dropped to a scowl._

"_Tough."_


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Warning for torture in this chapter.

In the Hospital Wing, Dr Abe was busy cutting into Finland's chest to look at his chest cavity, specifically the lungs and heart. His security guard stood by, just watching the whole operation. The young nation has been strapped to the bed for the doctor's safety with only leather straps being available from the office – usually used only to keep mental health patients from hurting themselves, though Finland has not moved at all, not even a finger twitched. After writing down some notes on the organs exposed to him, Dr Abe pushed the small flap of skin back across the chest and stitched it, despite thinking that it won't be necessary. But the curved scar above the Finn's heart piqued his interest, noting that it seems decades old as it hasn't completely healed yet.

Finland just laid there in bed, eyes staring up to the ceiling with his skin tinged light-green from being injected with a new vaccine earlier. It's not anything like the previous vaccines, but the liquid of the vaccine is light-yellow coloured rather than green.

Dr Abe picked up a small recorder, speaking into it.

"Z-vaccine use; 20 minutes since injection. Patient has not regained consciousness. Eyes are still open. Pulse rate is around 30 beats per minute. Skin is light-green similar to victims of Type 3 zombie bites, but transformation has yet to take place."

The guard spoke up quietly. "Hey, boss, would you need my gun yet?"

"No, not yet," Dr Abe snapped impatiently. "I need to wait for the boy to transform and time the decomposition rate. We won't shoot this one yet."

While the heart-monitor bleeped periodically, the line suddenly jerked and Dr Abe glanced up, talking into his recorder.

"Subject just showed signs of changing; the first major heartbeat to interrupt the pattern has occurred," he turned to his guard, "this is rather exciting, isn't it? I can finally get down to work once more without noisy interruptions."

The monitor bleeped again and Dr Abe stepped back, almost surprised when Finland's eyes blinked and focused. He coughed drily and Dr Abe smirked.

"Keep watch, Philip. You're witnessing a breakthrough in medical history."

The patient in bed turned his head to look at the heart monitor, which is showing signs of a quickening heartbeat. The pace excelled and Finland growled lowly, tensing all his muscles against the restraints.

"Patient 1!" Dr Abe spoke out loudly, standing at the foot of the bed, "do you understand my English? Say yes, if you do!"

Finland lifted his head to look at the doctor before seeing that the skin on his chest has been stitched back into place.

"Patient 1!" Dr Abe snarled and kicked the bedframe, rattling it. "Respond!"

But Finland has a plan.

"What?" he said, blinking.

"Oh, you're alive!" Dr Abe laughed, "I thought you'd transform into a zombie by now!"

But the patient only stared at him in confusion. The doctor watched him with a frown.

"Uh… Are you deaf? Do you know what my name is?" he asked. Finland's eyes still followed him but with an unsure expression on his face. Dr Abe gawked. "CAN. YOU. HEAR. ME?"

Still as stone, Finland closed and opened his eyes slowly. Dr Abe grasped his voice recorder and spoke uncertainly, watching the other male in bed.

"Z-vaccine report: patient 1 has regained consciousness, but the patient appears to have either become deaf, stupid or forgot how to speak English. Will await for degeneration of the body," he turned the recorder off and scratched his head. "My vaccine appears to be faulty… damn it, this one is supposed to be the big one!" he complained to the guard.

"Sir, perhaps your patient is still very much alive and they're pretending to be deaf," the guard glowered at the patient with contempt and walked over, gun pointing to their head. Finland silently backed his head away from the weapon, but couldn't go far because of the restraints.

"Philip! Stand down!" Dr Abe demanded. "I still need to do tests on him! Release his restraints, but keep the gun on him!" His loyal guard only stared at him.

"Have you gone mad? He's pretending - can't you see it?!" he hissed. Meanwhile, Finland just blinked, mouth hanging open. Dr Abe turned back to Philip, almost trembling from fury.

"All I see is a dumb human who has no mental capacity left, nevermind someone who can simply break your face off! Release him! I want to see how he moves! Take him off the heart monitor first!"

"You've gone insane, sir," the guard uttered, but obeyed him anyway and took a heart monitor tablet off the male's chest before he flicked at the buttons on the leather restraints holding Finland down by his waist, ankles, neck and wrists. When he did so, Finland still lay there, looking at his half-clothed body in confusion. He moved to sit up, but that was it. He just looked at Dr Abe and the guard.

"STAND. HERE." Dr Abe ordered loudly, thinking that the patient is deaf. Finland raised his hand and pointed at the spot where the doctor gestured at. "YES." The doctor nodded, repeatedly pointing at the spot at the foot of the bed.

Finland obeyed and slowly got off the bed, feeling his bare feet touch the ground. He felt strange. His body felt as though it lost a few pounds in weight, yet he still has his chubby build. His skin seems normal now compared to a few seconds ago and his eyesight seems sharper. His hearing definitely improved as he can hear the noise of zombies far outside the hotel. The physical changes shocked him. Was it because he forced Red to unite with him…?

"STAND. HERE." Dr Abe commanded and Finland wiped his eyes, forgetting about his plan. The doctor turned to his guard. "See? He CAN hear if you shout loud enough!" The guard rolled his eyes and shook his head, but stood on standby with his gun at the ready in case.

Finland turned and sluggishly walked towards Dr Abe around the bed, stopping at the spot he was indicated to stop at.

"Excellent!" the doctor exclaimed delightedly, looking at Philip. "It's working! Now for another test…" He looked at Finland again. "Pick. Up. The. Bed."

Finland was starting to think that Dr Abe is losing his mind, giving him these meaningless commands, so he kneeled down, and used one hand to easily lift the heavy bed. Dr Abe gasped and Philip watched him do it with ease, like he was just picking up a piece of paper. The doctor clapped.

"It's working! He's finally like a slave! My experiment it looking like it's going to succeed!" he said deliriously. "Put. The. Bed. Down!"

The Finn kneeled down again and placed the bed back into its original position. He already has a plan in mind, but became curious by the experiment the doctor is making him follow through right now… He mentally decided to play along until the last minute. Nothing happened to his body yet, so he'll keep this game up...

Suddenly, the walkie-talkie on Philip's belt crackled and he answered it.

"Philip here. What's going on? Over."

_"Where is Finland?"_ a voice growled ominously. Finland's heart leaped. Dr Abe and Philip stared at each other.

"I thought all his friends were killed!" Dr Abe mouthed to the guard.

"They were! It was confirmed on CCTV!" he whispered back.

_"WHERE is Finland?!"_ the angry voice demanded again.

But Finland watched, wide-eyed. Someone he knows is still alive?

Dr Abe snatched the walkie-talkie and spoke into it.

"Now I don't know who you think you are, but there is nobody here called Finland, understand?" he said sternly. "Identify yourself!"

A laugh echoed. _"That would ruin the whole surprise… You never considered the fact that I vaccinated myself against every type of fucking zombie you're creating. Now I'm practically immortal."_

Philip gripped his gun tightly, looking at Dr Abe. "Sir. What's your order?"

Dr Abe looked at the walkie-talkie with a grin. "Listen, whoever you are… in case you haven't noticed, we have security all over the island. You have just alerted them to your presence since these walkie-talkies are all connected! All they need now is your location…"

_"The helicopter pad, where you shot me,"_ the voice arrogantly replied with a laugh. Dr Abe blinked. Finland's heart flooded with hope. Estonia?_ "But on one condition – I want you to bring Finland with you and show me what you did to him. Take one security guard with you. That's all. Meet me in an hour. Over."_

The guard quickly asked Dr Abe; "What shall we do, sir? A survivor is likely to jeopardise the entire operation!"

"Hmm…" the old man hummed before looking at Finland, who tilted his head dumbly and his hands hung by his sides. "I say we send all the patrolling men to the helicopter pad to kill this individual and then carry on as normal with the experiments."

"Yessir!" Philip affirmed.

"But don't use the walkie-talkie, we don't know what that person is capable of doing," Dr Abe murmured. "You go on ahead, I'll be just fine." To prove his point, he pulled out a gun from his pocket – the same gun Finland had possession of earlier – and put it on the table by his side. At that, Philip nodded before leaving the Hospital Wing.

* * *

><p>"Alright men, the individual in question said that they're on the helicopter pad, so exercise caution!" Philip briefed his group of men, who are in a pack of 30. "We only know that there is one person so far, so let's just get out there and kill them! Let's move!"<p>

The head guard faced away from his men and began to lead them towards the emergency staircase, walking up the long flight of stairs. They all kept a vigilant watch while being in a single-file line and their trained eyes focused to detect any hiding zombies. None were seen for a while now as some were exterminated by the Sweepers, but they can't be too careful. They climbed up a few storeys before finally reaching the fire exit door to the helicopter pad.

Philip kicked the door wide open and charged outside, followed by his many subordinates and guns held high. But they couldn't see anyone around apart from themselves until they realised that there's a helicopter parked at the landing spot, where they notice someone sitting in the cockpit with a magazine over their sleeping face.

Philip snickered and he shook his head, simply walking up to the helicopter and tapped the glass of the door. He can see a walkie-talkie on the seat besides the driver, the one he used to make contact with him and Dr Abe.

"Hoi, its game over for you, pal! Come out now!" he laughed loudly, rapping the glass with his knuckles. The driver did not respond. Philip sighed impatiently. "Come on already! I'll drag you out by force, then!"

He yanked the door open and reached in, seizing the sleeping driver's shoulder and making him slump out the cockpit and onto the concrete ground. Philip sucked in a surprised breath at the sight of a gunshot wound to the forehead on the unfortunate driver.

It wasn't one of those nations that were killed.

It was one of his security men.

_SLAM._

"What the-?!" Philip gasped and spun around to see the fire exit door being slammed shut. The other guards exclaimed in shock and went to barge the door open, but it wouldn't budge at all. Someone fired at the door handle, only to knock it off instead of the lock that's built-in separately.

"_This is Eduard speaking, please answer. Over."_ The walkie-talkie sitting on the helicopter's cockpit seat crackled to life and Philip snatched it up straight away.

"Where are you?!" he ranted furiously.

"_I just locked the fire exit door so none of you can come out. I knew not to trust someone that you're making negotiations with,"_ the man explained in amusement. _"So I left myself some insurance of sorts to make sure none of you enter the building again. Apologies in advance."_

"Insurance? What the fuck do you—"

* * *

><p>A noisy boom echoed and shook the entire hotel building.<p>

In the Hospital Wing, Dr Abe felt the ground shake slightly and frowned, picking up his walkie-talkie with his left hand and pressing a button while Finland watched from the chair he is sitting on. His current task is to sit as still as possible while having a knife pressed to his throat by the doctor to test his will to sit still.

"Abe to Philip, what's going on? What was that noise?!"

He was met with silence. Nobody responded.

Finland watched the walkie-talkie carefully, thinking about Estonia. He believes that he's still alive.

"Well, well… looks like one of your comrades have something to do with this…" Dr Abe remarked and put his walkie-talkie away, taking the knife away from Finland's throat.

Suddenly, Finland leapt off the chair and seized the knife from Dr Abe's hand, startling him. The Finn kicked him in the stomach and sent him flying back against the wall, smacking his head on a fire alarm pad. Immediately, the fire alarms blared loudly throughout the entire hotel resort.

"It's over, Dr Abe!" Finland declared, pointing the knife at him, "I'm outta here!"

The doctor glared at him, rubbing his sore head. "It's not over yet, you imbecile…" his hand dived into his pocket and pulled out the gun. Shit.

Curling his lips in disdain, Finland threw the knife to the floor. He completely forgot about the gun.

"I WILL kill you…" Dr Abe threatened, but then his expression changed, "I have a better idea though. Here, call your friend." He picked the walkie-talkie from his other pocket and threw it to the Finn, who caught it clumsily. The gun pointed at him. "Call him. And tell him to meet you in the Hospital Wing."

'Shit…' Finland cursed and slowly lifted the device to his ear, pressing the button to start it up.

"No weapons either!" Dr Abe warned and Finland gulped.

"Suomi to Viro… it's me, Suomi. I'm a hostage."

_"Soome?"_ Finland's heart skipped a beat. _"Are you okay?! Did they hurt you?!"_ Estonia asked desperately.

"Not exactly, but…" Finland winced at a sharp pain in his chest and his hand rested on his quavering heart. "Come to the Hospital Wing. Dr Abe says not to bring any weapons… Wait, Viro, don't come! He has a gun! He'll-!"

_BANG._

Finland yelped and fell to the floor, clutching his left leg where Dr Abe shot him. The walkie-talkie clattered to the floor and the angry doctor picked it up. Estonia screamed out Finland's name through the device.

_"TIMO!"_

"Estonia, if you value your friend's life, then you will do the right thing and come here, unarmed! Otherwise I'll give you his CORPSE! It's my turn now for negotiations! Clearly, you had something to do with whatever happened to my team!" Dr Abe snarled fiercely.

_"Yes, I did kill your team!"_ Estonia exclaimed in panic, thinking of Finland, _"I killed a security guard and put his body on the helicopter in my place and I rigged it to explode! Did you think it was easy of me to take someone's life?! I have never done that before, but you got Timo so I'm going to do EVERYTHING to make sure he's safe!"_

But Dr Abe growled. "Come down to the Hospital Wing and I'll give your friend a chance to live. Otherwise…"

_BANG._

A bullet struck Finland's right foot and his eyes shot wide open. Pain ripped through his body and he howled, curling up on the floor and a mix of moans and whimpers.

_"STOP IT!"_ Estonia ranted, _"I'll do whatever you want me to do! Just don't hurt him anymore! You have my full cooperation!"_

The doctor snickered. "That's all I want to hear. I'll give you 15 minutes to come here and claim your lover. Over."

Finland weakly cracked open his eyes, whimpering at the throbbing pain in his foot while looking up at Dr Abe. He reached down and grabbed the young man by his upper arm, forcing him to stand on his injured leg and foot, making him yell and collapse to the ground. But the doctor kept a firm grip on his arm.

"Too bad he won't reach you in time, because I'm going to just carry on with the experiments," he hissed and dragged the Finn onto the bed, immediately slapping a leather restraint over his right wrist. Finland tried to punch him, but he couldn't react in time as Dr Abe simply took his left hand and restrained it. "He'll have the full-force of my security detail to deal with before he could get to you! I can't stop with the experiments now; I need to test your pain reception!"

'_Torture!'_ Finland's mind automatically flashed. _'He's going to torture me!'_

"Do it then!" The Finn spat out. "I've been through worse! Nothing will break my will! I have nothing to lose!"

"Oh, shut up already!" Dr Abe shouted and picked up the knife off the floor, suddenly sheathing it in the bullet wound on Finland's leg and he screamed, kicking out. The doctor forcefully held his leg down and snapped a restraint over his ankle. "I WOULD put a gag on you, but this is starting to sound like music to my ears…"

Finland clamped his mouth shut, breathing heavily out through his nostrils while trying hard not to vocalise his pain. The wound on his leg intensified when the doctor gave it a whack with his hand and his knees jerked. The leather restraints rubbed against his wrists and ankles harshly, almost tearing his skin.

"Keep still so I can restrain your neck!" Dr Abe grouched and seized Finland's hair, slamming his head back against the hard mattress and clipped the leather restraint over his neck. He tightened the grip on his neck for good measure, making it hard to breathe.

He couldn't breathe properly. Finland tried taking slow breaths, but his chest still heaved and his throat grew drier from inhaling so much of the stale air…

* * *

><p>Wearing a security guard's uniform, Estonia quietly and calmly walked down the fire escape staircase outside the hotel building in the darkness with nothing but the moonlight to aid his eyesight. The goggles over his eyes didn't hinder his eyesight, but it keeps misting the lenses of his glasses so he occasionally stopped to take the goggles off in order to clean them.<p>

"I can't waste time, Soome needs me…" he muttered and ran his hand through his hair. "Shit, this is just like in military training, but… 100% deadly…. Then again, any training course with Russia as the boss is always dangerous, I almost lost my virginity to a spike pit…"

While he spoke to himself, he heard a growl coming from behind a fire exit door. When he walked past, a loud thump make his blood freeze and he immediately whipped out his gun from the holster, aiming at the door. Someone… or something… started hammering on the door wildly.

"Wh-who's there?!" Estonia exclaimed, voice shaking. The door handle is within reach, he can just reach over and open it. But what if it's one of those Type 3 zombies that he read about before flying over here? What if it kills him before he could kill that bastard Dr Abe and save Finland?

But there is no other security guard around, so maybe it won't hurt to kill a zombie before rescuing a Finn in Distress…

Taking a deep, brave breath, the Estonian reached over and pushed the handle down. The door swung wide open and the knocking stopped. Someone slowly stepped out from behind the door and faced Estonia silently.

"Wh-who are you?" Estonia demanded, knees quivering.

"…The fuck do ya think yer talkin' to?" the figure asked rudely.

"Oh my gosh…" the other male gasped, lowering his weapon. "T-Taani?"


	16. Chapter 16

Estonia stared at the figure still standing in the darkness in front of him as they stood on a fire escape platform outside the hotel building. The moonlight that has been obscured by clouds up until now have dissipated, allowing the rays to shine more on the doomed island and shone more brightly on the body of the Dane, who leaned against the open door to support himself. But his appearance is most frightful to Estonia as he noted that as his lower right arm has a giant bite mark into it, which has scabbed over in a mix of black and yellow dried pus and his own blood dried over his bare chest. He wore no footwear and nothing else apart from swimming trunks.

"Oh… it's you…" Denmark hissed before his chest heaved and he coughed heavily. His forehead was covered in a thin film of sweat.

"Taani… what happened…?" Estonia asked in a whisper, stepping close to him and resting his hand on his shoulder.

"I got attacked…" Denmark spoke lowly, looking at him, "the other guys… we were running for our lives, but then it was just Finland and me left an'…" His voice dropped. His face filled with regret. "I got bit. I pushed Finland into an elevator so he can get to you… and I just waited to die, but then I remembered something that someone dear to me gave me a gift… or three."

He reached into the pockets of his trunks and tugged out three empty syringes. Estonia took one and examined them extensively with interest. Denmark bite back a moan as he stretched his arms and legs, wincing at the cracking sounds his bones made.

"But shit, it felt like I died and came back to life, like I'm totally reborn again!" he added with a weak laugh, falling against the open door again. "You should try out that shit, it's better than taking drugs at Ned's place…"

"Taani, are these vaccines?" Estonia asked quickly. Upon close inspection, there're only a few drops of the vaccines left in the 3 syringes.

"Ja!" the Dane nodded and tried to stand up straight again, but yawned and moved to sit down on the metal platform. "I guess Finland's dead, since you're here. I know how much you have a big crush on him." The Estonian's ears burned.

"I do NOT have a crush on Soome!" Estonia ranted, "I just happen to love him very much as a friend!"

"Yeah… I get what ya mean," Denmark's eyes seem to shimmer over. "Nobody could ever hate Finland. He's too good. Even at his worst, you can't hate 'im… God, I miss him."

Estonia exhaled an exasperated breath.

"Ack, what am I talking about – Taani, he's still alive!" the other male clarified quickly, seizing his shoulders. "But he's in danger! Some freak called Dr Abe is keeping him against his will in the Hospital Wing and I want you to help! I heard Soome get shot over the walkie-talkie!"

The Dane narrowed his eyes, confused.

"There? Why is he…?" His expression darkened. "Dr Abe… That fucker actually…"

Estonia stared at him. "Taani? Who's Dr Abe exactly?"

"Nevermind!" he snapped, making him flinch. "Gimme a gun, all I want to do now is tear his fucking face apart!"

"Who is he?!" his Estonian friend hastily asked. Denmark huffed out a breath through his nostrils, eyes steeling into a deathly glare.

"Someone I should've listened to…"

* * *

><p>Dr Abe snatched the knife out of Finland's bullet wound, looking as the watery blood dripped off it. The viscosity in the fluid astounded the doctor, who focused more on the blood than the muffled shrieks from the patient. Finland's jaw trembled from trying to hold back his yells, but they came out in whimpers and groans.<p>

"Oh, keep it down," Dr Abe sighed heavily and turned his back on him. "Your cries are distracting me."

"I hope so," the Finn hissed just as his conscience faded in and out of reality.

'_Hey, Finny…'_ a voice whispered in his mind and he shut his eyes._ 'So remind me why you want to live so much again?'_

"Viro…" he uttered. His muscles tensed.

'_Because of him?'_ a cruel voice snickered. Finland nodded, slowly remembering his internal persona. Red. _'You really love other guys so easily.'_

"He's different, I knew him for a long time…" Finland spoke lowly, but Dr Abe heard him and raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry? What was that?" the older man asked, looking around the bed, but couldn't see anybody apart from him and the patient. He huffed in irritation. "Patient 1 is clearly becoming delirious. Better take a note of this… After a drink or two…" He then faced away and entered the doctor's office, door swinging slowly until it almost closed on its own.

'_Now's your chance, then,'_ Red's voice echoed, _'survival's about fighting, so put up those fists and break out already.'_

The young man glanced down to his sides where his wrists are cuffed to. Bunching his fingers together in a pointing position, he slowly pulled at his hand back towards him. The cuffs didn't budge and they dug into his skin, but he did not stop. As he was sweating so much earlier, the sheen of liquid aided him, but only for about a couple of centimetres before the middle of his hand got stuck fast.

"Dammit…" he breathed, and paused to take a very deep breath. Clattering can be heard in the doctor's office as well as the sound of a kettle being set to boil and his pulse almost shot through the roof at the familiar screeching noise. "Okay, Suomi, calm down…" he whispered to himself, eyes closed and head resting against the tough mattress. "He didn't tighten the cuffs very well, I kept my muscles as tense as I could when fighting back, so…"

With determination, he gritted his teeth and yanked his hand right out of the leather cuff. He held back a pained hiss at the friction burn reddening his skin and flexed his fingers as much as possible to restore feeling. At least he's not bleeding. But as the noise of the kettle in the doctor's office gradually became quieter, a sense of urgency filled Finland. He immediately focused on releasing his left hand, but the restraint on the wrist was even tighter than the one he slipped his hand out of. He couldn't budge it at all.

"Shit…" he hissed and glanced up sharply when he heard something drop and break in the office.

"Oh fucking fruit baskets! That was my best mug!" Dr Abe ranted inside the room and Finland let out a relieved sigh.

He glanced down at his left wrist again and then looked at the table next to his bed chock-full of sharp surgical instruments. Perfect. With his free right hand, he reached over his left side, fingertips brushing against the handle of a scalpel. Finland retracted his hand to quickly wipe the beading sweat off his fingers before throwing his hand over and instantly snatched up the nearest scalpel.

Thinking about Dr Abe, he looked at the office door, but heard the kettle being set to boil again.

In his mind, Red snickered. _'Sounds like he dropped his tea. It's gonna take him about 5 minutes to make a good brew again. It's not like you'll need your left hand or your neck anyway!'_

That gave Finland some relief, but almost forgot about the restrain put on his neck, and it's belted him down pretty tightly. But he has no time to lose. He needs to see Estonia.

He can't sit up to reach his wrist properly, so he tried not to gulp as he took the scalpel to his neck, near his throat, and wriggled the blade underneath the leather the best he could. He couldn't feel anything but the blade's coldness pressing against his Adam's apple.

'_This is exciting!'_ Red chuckled in his subconscious, _'if you accidentally slit your throat, it'll piss Dr Abe off to no end because you're a valuable experiment!'_

"I won't die," Finland uttered so quietly that you can hear a needle drop.

He gripped the scalpel handle harder and twisted the object so quickly with all his strength that the belt snapped in one slash and air quickly filled his lungs completely. He forced himself to sit up to breathe properly. Eyes fluttering shut, he listened to his relaxing pulse bumping gently in his ears before feeling something watery dripping down his bare chest. It's his blood.

'_SHIT, SHIT, SHIT! PANIC!' _his mental counterpart shrieked uncharacteristically. Finland's ears rang from the screaming.

"Ow…" he grits his teeth, checking out his reflection of his throat on the shiny surface of the scalpel handle. It's only a small cut. But the blood seems strange to him – he has seen his own blood before, it's just like any old normal blood, bright red and rusty-smelling when dry, but right now its pale crimson and the consistency of the liquid running down his chest reminded him of water. It is as if he is a living water balloon.

"Okay… I'm still alive," Finland muttered and quickly got to work at cutting his left wrist free.

He brought the surgical instrument down to the cuff and gently, but quickly, forced it under the cuff, sawing at the material. He's finding it strange that Dr Abe is taking such a long time preparing his cup of tea, but right now Finland's not complaining. When the extremely fine blade of the scalpel sliced the material effortlessly and snapped his wrist free, he can practically feel the blood rushing back as the colour returned to his extremities. Now all that's left is the feet…

"Oh, Patient 1!" Dr Abe sing-sung from the office joyfully (almost making Finland accidentally slice his middle finger off,) "you've been awfully quiet for a long time - I hope you're not feeling lonely!"

The Finn tried not to grin. "I'm quiet because I'm accepting my fate!"

"That's more like it!" he hears the doctor laugh out loud. The whistling noise of the kettle is growing quieter by the second.

But during the dialogue between doctor and experiment, Finland manages to cut his left leg free, trying not to wince at the massive wound that he sustained just below his knees from the combined inflictions of the gunshot and the knife. Thank goodness he didn't shoot his kneecap. But if he's going to run, then by god he's going to run and he will do it without ever stopping until he's in his friend's arms.

He stabbed at the side of final piece of restraint holding his right ankle down, not bothering to care about his safety. He can't feel anything in his right foot, but he doesn't care. He'll drag himself away if he has to. Finland avoided stabbing his own limb by accident, but then at that moment when the leather broke apart the door of the doctor's office opened. The doctor himself gawped in shock, watching Finland glare at him as he pulled himself off the bed.

"I have a gun," Dr Abe stated simply with apprehension, but Finland's lips twisted into a grin, toying with the scalpel in his hand. They're only about five meters apart from each other.

"I have a knife. Think you can get your gun before I can kill you?"

Dropping his mug of tea, Dr Abe quickly reached into his pocket but his fingers barely brushed against the cold metal when Finland flew at him and shoved the scalpel right into his heart, practically burying it into his chest up to the hilt and slamming him against the doorframe. Snarling, Finland twisted the deadly blade, causing a loud crunching sound to be heard.

The mug smashed against the ground and tea spilled everywhere.

Breathing heavily, Finland stepped back to watch Dr Abe fall to the floor, back sliding against the doorframe and smearing it with his blood. The doctor just stared at him, trying to pull the knife out from his chest but it is stuck fast between two of his ribs where it twisted.

"F-Finland…" he coughed, blood appearing over his lips, "you'll… never leave this island… alive…"

But the Finn only laughed darkly. "Yes, I will."

Dr Abe shook his head quickly, trembling all over. "Y-You can't… Only I know where… the escape boat is…"

"I'll just find it one way or another," Finland shrugged. "I have Estonia. With his brains and my training, we're unstoppable."

Growling, Dr Abe shook all over with so much anger that the Finn thought he was becoming rabid.

"You CAN'T… escape!" he snarled, "I h-have all my security guards all over this i-island! I'll have them w-w-wipe you out! I'll commend them to r-rip out your organs while you're alive and have th-th-them strung up!"

Suddenly, Finland giggled. "You don't even have the breath to ORGANise such commands."

"FUCKING HELL!" Dr Abe shrieked and tried to reach out to claw at the young male, but he couldn't reach. "GO TO HELL AND DIE, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

"I've been there already," the other male snickered, "I'll only just drag myself outta there. But you on the other hand… you have a one-way trip. Want to make your peace before you go?"

"Fuck… off…" the weak doctor hissed, hands falling limp at his sides and eyes drooping. "Fuck… right off… fuck…" He whispered his profanities before finally becoming very still, clothes soaked thanks to his spilt tea and his runny blood - very watery blood.

Caution replacing his humour, Finland kneeled down and picked Dr Abe's gun from his pocket, seeing that it has been reloaded. He also reached over to his chest and yanked the scalpel out, causing a few jets of blood to pump out feebly.

"Rest in Hell, motherfucker," he grumbled, feeling pain build up in his legs. He sat back on the bed and took a few deep breaths, glancing around the hospital ward for a crutch or something to lean on while he goes search for Estonia.

On the ground, the walkie-talkie radio lay there where the doctor placed it a while ago to make room in his pockets. Finland looked at it curiously, devising a plan in his mind. He picked it up and pressed the button before speaking.

"Viro. Turvallinen. Not in the Hospital Wing. Over."

He broke contact and hopped off the bed, picking up a spare lab coat from a hook on the wall by the doctor's office door and put it on, feeling a lot warmer. To his luck, there's a tall golf umbrella hanging from a hook underneath and took that as well, seeing that it's durable enough to support his weight as he limped along.

* * *

><p>"Taani, please tell me who Dr Abe is!" Estonia demanded as they walked inside the hotel. The corridors are lit up by dim lightbulbs, so they walked along cautiously, watching out for any enemies. The Estonian followed after Denmark, watching him nervously as he held a spare gun with a murderous look in his eyes.<p>

"He's a doctor working at this resort and he helped us save Iceland from dying from a zombie parasite. But then he got bit by a Type 3 zombie," he began to explain exhaustedly, "Finland and I saw him get bit. But then he asked me to kill him. Dr Abe wanted me to strike his chest as hard as I could until he stopped breathing, which I found pretty weird. He was becoming a zombie, he didn't ask me to bash his brains in. But… Ugh…"

"Taani," Estonia seized his shoulder gently, making that tired face look at him. They slowed their walk to a halt as he spoke more tenderly. "Dr Abe was still human when you killed him, so maybe the virus or parasite didn't have time to work on his body. But that doesn't make sense unless I don't know enough about his research. What really happened between you two?"

Denmark was about to speak when something electronic bleeped and the men almost jumped out of their skins. Estonia gasped and flailed at his coat pockets, whipping out the radio.

'_Viro. Turvallinen. Not in the Hospital Wing. Over.'_

"Finland?" the Dane whispered, staring at the device. Hope and desperation are evident in his gaze.

Estonia said nothing, fingers shaking. Denmark furiously hit his arm to snap him out of it. "Hey! Talk to him or I'll do it!"

"No! You can't!" Estonia whispered and held the radio to his chest, but for the first time since his arrival at the island his eyes shimmered with hope. "That's Soome's safeword! He wants to meet us in the hospital wing!"

Denmark's mind suddenly filled to the brim with millions of questions. A billion. Trillion. With every word he thought of an image of Finland appeared in his Mind's Eye. Finland smiling, Finland crying, Finland playing ice hockey. Finland cleaning his precious rifle. Finland taking him to Metal concerts. _Finland. Finland. Finland. Finland. Finland._

"Got it," was all Denmark uttered before they started running again with newfound determination and resolve. Never before has his heart hammered the way it did until now. His family's still alive. His heart beats as long as someone's do.

He led the way as he recognised the layout of the hospital and almost had to hold Estonia's hand in order for him to keep up.

But as they ran and dodged various places where security guards lazed about in front of hotel room doors, Estonia began talking to Denmark and they began slowing down. They didn't realise how far the helicopter pad tower was from the Hospital Wing.

"Denmark, you were going to tell me what happened between you and Dr Abe. What really happened?"

Impatient, Denmark decided to answer and took a deep breath, finally calming his beating heart.

"He told me… to strike his chest as hard as I can… so that he can come back to life."

Estonia expression dropped and his mouth hung open. Stunned. "Taani… did he say why?"

The Dane shook his head. "He just said for me to kill him, so I did. When I killed 'im he was just lying on the ground with a weird insane smile like he discovered the secret of the universe or shit."

"TAANI!"

The shout made the other male gag on air in massive shock. "What the fuck was that for?! What did I do!?"

"Don't you realise what's going on!?" the Estonian spoke rapidly, "he WANTED to die because it's part of his plan! EVERYTHING about this place is part of his plan, including the people visiting it! And you killing him furthered his results!"

"Listen, you," Denmark growled, "I have killed hundreds of people during my lifetime and I KNOW that when I kill someone, they stay dead."

"Taani, please listen!" Estonia begged, still holding his shoulder, "Dr Abe intended for you to kill him in order to test his theory!"

"And what theory is that?!" Denmark spat impatiently. His anger waned as he examined the growing look of worry on the other blonde male's face.

"The theory of immortality for humans…" he whispered. Denmark's eyebrows furrowed.

"Immortality?" Denmark gawped, staring at the bespectacled nerd. "Like… never dying like we do?"

"Yes, and it's no coincidence that he roped you guys into all this!" Estonia hissed, keeping their faces close. "He can just take blood samples from us and do whatever he wants – trace who our descendants are because let's face it, almost every one of us had fathered a few kids back in the day," (At this, Denmark nodded with a guilty grin), "and even find out what makes us SCIENTIFICALLY immortal so he can apply that secret into human medicine and give us the human race a chance to live forever!"

The theory overall rocked Denmark's mind to the point it almost made him feel dizzy thinking about the tremendous affects. But doubt stabilised him.

"Okay," he grumbled, "but what about the zombie-fication? That's the total opposite of his idea, isn't it?"

"It is," Estonia admitted, "but think about it… you do something with an end result in mind, but what if you deviated from that goal?"

"Then you fail?"

"YES!" he snapped his fingers. "But then you learn from the mistakes that you make along the way that caused you to fail and TURN them into an opportunity! And something clearly happened to Dr Abe that forced him to change his goals for his own agenda!"

"Estland," Denmark mumbled, "we have to move."

They paused and watched as a couple of security guards walked past the end of the corridor a few feet away from them, stopping there while chatting. Denmark tugged Estonia's sleeve and they quickly backed up into a cleaning closet, quietly closing the door. Footsteps tapped against the hard floor, closing in on the two in their hiding spot, but then the sounds passed until they faded into the distance.

They simultaneously sighed in relief.

"Estland, we have to get to Finland," Denmark whispered in the closet's darkness. Estonia noted his increasing desperation. "Please, just no more talking until I actually see him! I won't believe that he's alive until I have him talking safe and in my arms! Let's just go!"

* * *

><p>Finland took a deep breath and slowly pushed himself off the bed, feet touching the ground. A throbbing pain thudded in his foot and leg, but they didn't hurt as much as they did before.<p>

"Okay… Now to wait for Viro…" he whispered, sitting back on the bed.

He found the rest of his clothes in the office earlier, so he's glad that he's finally fully-clothed and warm again. He kept the spare lab coat though as the pockets are deceptively spacious since they can carry all the knives and scalpels that Dr Abe was using on him. It's even the right size for him to wear; it's not too long or too short. But as for his injured leg and foot, he can walk and run, but only for a few feet as he tested earlier by running down the long room, returning by hobbling with the aid of the strong golf umbrella.

But worry gnawed at the corner of his mind. He can practically hear Red laughing at his anxiety.

'_What's wrong? Worried that Viro's been killed by one of Abe's people?'_

"Shut up…" Finland growled and sat down. "He's fine, I gave him the safeword. He understands my code."

'_What if he forgot?'_ Red asked, _'Time erases memories. Not me, though.'_

"He won't forget," the real Finn breathed, staring at the blank wall, mentally forming patterns on the surface. "I can't ever forget the times we spent together as POWs, locked in the same cell every night and separated during the day while they forced us to break rocks with rusty hammers…"

'_He proposed to—'_

"I know," Finland interrupted, "we were both scared, and we didn't know when we'd die or who'll get executed first!"

'_Hey, Suomi, I'm just trying to say…'_ Red's voice dropped to a strangely caring tone, _'Viro… Eduard really cares about you. Sometimes I don't think you two are just friends because you're both that close, plus that line of friendship always blurs. Tough shit made you both strong together, even if he was always a bit of a milksop. He's only strong because of you and you're as confident as you are because of this friendship. Imagine how much power you'd both share if you became lovers…'_

A small laugh left Finland's throat.

"Red… we both know that Eduard and I are never gonna be together that way. We're just best friends, simple as that. I wouldn't have it any other way. No matter how romantic people think it is, it is just friendship. People make it out as if being friends is somehow a lesser thing than a romantic bond. Friendships are already romantic in their own sense. Romance and friendships are practically the same. But the one way to see what kind of relationship the partners have… is what they agree what it is."

Red sighed heavily a drawn-out groan. _'Finland, cut the crap. Do you love him as a lover or a friend?'_

Finland rolled his eyes, but smiled. "We love each other as friends. It's that simple."

'_But did he actually—'_

"Red, shut up," the Finn chuckled, "you're not controlling this body, I am."

A groan alerted him and his heart almost bounded out of his chest.

Mind racing, Finland leaped off the bed and shot a look to the doorframe of the doctor's office.

Dr Abe's body has disappeared.


	17. Chapter 17

'_You're screwed now, Suomi…'_ the ominous voice whispered at Finland's heightening anxiety, _'you should've known better than to just leave him in one piece.'_

"I… I thought I killed him," Finland murmured.

Upon discovering the loss of the body, the Finn quickly hopped around with the aid of the umbrella with the gun in his other hand. He glanced under the beds, double-checking, looked behind curtains and shoved them over to make sure that the doctor isn't hiding behind them but there was no sign of him at all. He looked back to his bed and then at the window, which was slightly open.

As he hobbling over, Red spoke to him again; _'He wouldn't have gone out the window. Don't you remember seeing how high the drop is if you go out that window?'_

"I know," Finland affirmed and reached the window, putting his gun in his pocket before opening the window further, looking down at a high drop into the darkness. The Hospital Wing is on the 3rd floor, but Finland remembered that the last time he looked during the daytime, there was nothing on the ground that's safe to land on without risking your legs getting broken or worse. Finland took note of bloody fingerprint smears on the windowsill.

'_Don't you think that the doctor got a bit desperate and waited for you to have your back turned before jumping to his death?' _Red asked curiously. _'But then again, you would've heard him move around.'_

"I don't know…" Finland couldn't relax. He stabbed the doctor directly in the heart and was sure that he broke some ribs as he did so. "If he didn't bleed out from being stabbed, then he'd have suffocated in his own blood filling his lung from me breaking his ribs."

'_Yet, he still moved after… what, 10 minutes of you faffing around with your wounds and finding your outfit?'_ Red mentioned.

"Possibly," Finland muttered, searching the room for a clock. But there's no clock to be seen. In fact, he doesn't remember seeing one around the hotel at all, and his mobile is back in his hotel room…

'_Your room,'_ Red stated simply and Finland's eyes widened. _'Do you still have the key in your pocket?'_

"I should have…" he murmured and dipped his hand in his pocket, feeling cold metal and tugged out a key with the number engraved on it. "Yes! But Estonia's on his way here, I can't just leave…"

'_He might be caught up with someone…'_ his inner self contradicted him with a chuckle. _'Or shot dead, reaching up to the sky while whispering your name…~'_

The young man bit his lip. "Shut up, Red. Estonia's smart. He created a trap on the rooftop and rigged a helicopter to explode, taking out an entire squad. He doesn't believe in fighting directly."

'_You mean he'd rather hide and wait for things to blow over before taking action?'_

"No," Finland snapped. Impatiently, he limped around the room again, re-checking all the beds for any hiding doctors. "He's not built for fighting, but in a pinch he can think of the cleverest uses for ordinary objects! His tongue may not be the sharpest nor is he any good at physical fighting, but his mind runs faster than any computer I've used! In a way…" His dropped to a low tone. "…He's the most dangerous man that I know. He's cunning and competent when it really matters. I have yet to see him put all that knowledge into action with my own eyes though."

_Knock-knock!_

"Ah!" Finland squeaked, shooting a look at the entrance door. "Wh-who is it?" he called out nervously. He didn't even consider that it could be one of Dr Abe's goons – damn, he cried out without thinking of a backup plan!

"Soome!" someone shouted, "are you hurt?!"

Relieved, a big smile transformed the Finn's expression. He knew he could never doubt him.

"No!" Finland yelled back, but paused and spoke again, "well, yes, but I'm safe now! Come in!"

Time seemed to stop as the door flung open and Estonia stood there, panting as if he ran a mile without stopping. Behind him, Denmark also stood there but didn't seem to break so much as a sweat until his eyes made contact with Finland's. A sob almost broke out from his throat as he shoved past his Estonian companion, quickly pulling Finland into a tight embrace, almost crying into his hair.

"Timo!" he choked, gripping his friend's labcoat until his knuckles turned white. "Timo…!"

Overwhelmed, Finland whimpered and returned the hug, squeezing the Dane like a vice.

"Matthias!" he exclaimed in a mix of shock and sadness. His eyes moistened, regret filling him. "I'm so sorry! I should've come back for you!"

"No!" Denmark muttered, feeling his blonde locks tickle his cheeks. "You wouldn't have made it – those zombies are REAL bastards for reanimating, I'm telling you!"

Finland laughed weakly and they broke the hug, happily looking at each other's faces. A sigh left Estonia's chest as he watched them fondly and he sheathed his gun into the stolen holster. He closed the door behind him.

"I'm just so glad that I found Taani when I did, or he'd be wandering around defenceless," he joked and the Dane in question shot him a dirty look, but Finland gave him another hug before running over to hug Estonia, squeezing him.

"Eduard, thank you so much for not giving up on me," he whispered, giving his cheek a quick kiss and the young man flushed, simply nodding and returning the tight hug. "And thanks for saving Tanska!"

Denmark only chuckled and patted the Finn's shoulder. "I was in such a pinch that I thought I'd never survive! To be honest, I just crawled around this island like a rat, searching out supplies because I assumed that you already left with your knight in shining armour," he joked.

"Matthias!" Finland whined, "it's not like that! Why does everyone keep thinking that we should be together like that?"

"I keep getting that too…" Estonia grumbled, cheeks still tainted pink.

"Anyway…" Finland's expression relaxed, resting his hand on Denmark's bare shoulder. "How DID you survive being attacked by that Type 3 zombie?"

"Ah, I'm glad you asked!" Denmark grinned, linking their arms. "Let's sit down first and… wait, where's Dr Abe?" His expression turned murderous in a millisecond. "I wanna kill him first."

Estonia glanced at the umbrella on the floor. "Taani, I think we should let Soome speak first… something clearly happened in here." Denmark shot Finland a concerned look and held his face in his hands.

"Timo, what did that bastard do to you?" he muttered, "do you want to tell me in private?"

Estonia glared at him indignantly, feeling hurt.

"N-no, it's okay, I can tell you both," Finland murmured, averting his gaze. The throbbing pain in his leg and foot that he tried to ignore ached more as painful reminders of his gunshot injuries. "Just come with me and I'll tell you everything – there's so much."

"Did you get shot?" Estonia quickly asked, suddenly remembering that heated radio call from earlier.

"Yes, in my foot and leg…"

"Shit," he cursed, seizing his arm, "come on, I'm checking your injuries!"

"Hey, wait!" Finland yelped and gasped when his injuries throbbed.

"Hoi!" Denmark growled, hooking Finland's arm around his neck and lifted him to carry him, "are ya deaf, specs? He got shot in his FOOT and LEG – you don't force him to walk on those!"

"Just get me to the damn bed already!" Finland demanded and both men obediently took him to the end of the ward, where Denmark and Estonia noticed the bloody mess at the office door as well as the broken restraints on the bed that the Finn was tied down to, pale and rusty blood stains still evident of torture.

Denmark gave Finland a horrified look, but the other male reached out to the bed nonchalantly and he sat him down on the hard mattress.

"Now…" Finland breathed, starting to take his clothes off without batting an eye. His two friends glanced away shyly. "When Dr Abe caught me, he had me tied down to this bed. He injected me with some Z-Vaccine or something, like it's a prototype of a brand new vaccine, and I woke up just as he finished sewing up my chest. He was looking at what the vaccine was doing to my body."

Denmark dared a look at the young man's chest and blood drained from his cheeks. "That fucker cut you up."

"Yes. I didn't even feel anything, but…" Finland trailed off as Estonia dashed into the doctors office and clattering noises echoed. Worried, Denmark went to enter when the other male quickly left, carrying a box of various medical bits'n'bobs like disinfectants, syringes with clear fluids…

"Keep talking," Estonia hurriedly spoke, "you did a great job cleaning the wounds, but I'm going to have to remove the dead tissue."

"Viro, I—"

Estonia lost his patience. "LIE DOWN," he barked and Finland flinched, backing up on the bed speedily to get into position.

"Don't talk to him like that!" Denmark ranted.

"Time is of the essence!" the Estonian spoke up, "how long ago were you shot?"

"About… 15 minutes…"

Estonia groaned.

"You're lucky that your femoral arteries didn't get hit, or you'd have bled out! Whether you cleaned them or not, the bullets don't cause the infections because they're so hot since firing them from guns cause mini-explosions. It's the wounds themselves that are risk of infection, especially from dead tissue that got damaged from the shooting, so obviously they'll have to be removed otherwise they'll decompose in your body and create breeding grounds for pathogens!"

As he spoke hurriedly, he removed the bandage and padding that Finland applied to himself earlier to staunch the bleeding. But Estonia froze, seeing nothing but a red ring where the bullet hole was meant to be. Apart from that, the wound is completely clean and the skin regenerated as if it's been months since an operation occurred. Finland sat up to look and they all stared.

"Wait a minute…" Denmark uttered and unwrapped the bandage off Finland's injured foot, seeing that it's also recovered.

The patient looked down at the leg injury that he sustained. He noted a faded scar consistent with a stab wound from where Dr Abe sheathed the knife into, but even the scar seemed old despite being stabbed there a while ago.

"Oh…" Finland muttered, "Dr Abe's vaccine must've worked after all…"

"I… I don't understand…" Estonia spoke quietly and touched the gunshot site gently, noticing how tender Finland's regenerated skin feels compared to the rest of his leg. Denmark coughed and he withdrew his hand quickly.

"Enjoying his skin?" Denmark asked rhetorically, crossing his arms with a grin. The Estonian huffed.

"Feel it for yourself – the regenerated skin feels as good as new!"

Finland laughed and they both glanced at him in confusion.

"That tickles," he chuckled and leaned down to feel the old injury, also surprised at the skin's softness. It almost tickled him just touching it consciously. "Just imagine if I got caught up in an explosion and my skin gets burned off – my whole body would get perfect skin in no time!"

"Let's hope it never comes to that…" Estonia commented, amused. "At least you're safe now…"

"Same!" Denmark added and sat down next to the Finn, giving him a one-armed hug. "I'm not letting you out of my sight again, you hear me?"

"Okay," Finland smiled and also wrapped an arm around him. "But can you let me go now? I'm starting to feel cold."

With that, Denmark let go of him so that Finland could dress up back in his usual clothes again. While he was getting dressed, Estonia was pootling around in the doctor's office, searching through drawers to find something that can help them. They weren't going to stay here forever, after all.

"Found something, Estland?" Denmark asked casually as he entered the office and sat on the large desk. Estonia shook his head.

"No," he sighed, "just normal work paperwork pertaining to hotel workers, not the security guards. I estimate there's 500 of them, although I wiped out a 21-man squad, so make that 479."

"You know, that was pretty badass of you," Denmark suddenly complimented and the other male laughed.

"Thanks!"

"And the way you looked so damn determined to find Finland…" the Dane smirked, "that was pretty romantic." Estonia rolled his eyes, ready to protest when he said more. "I wish I could've been more heroic. Then the other guys would still be alive." Denmark fell silent.

"Nothing would've prepared you for all this madness," Estonia began, looking at him. "Prepared for wars, maybe, but not anything like a zombie attack. Zombies don't have anything to lose. You can't negotiate or emotionally manipulate them."

"It's the Type 3 zombies that we had trouble with…" Denmark muttered, "I can take on the other ones, but those bastards are really fast."

Papers rustled as Estonia searched through another drawer in the large desk. He noticed how oddly shallow the drawer was and slid it all the way out, placing it on the table and tipped the contents out. Seeing a small hole at the back, he slipped his finger in and tugged it up, pulling the thin board up and revealing a secret compartment.

"Nice going!" Denmark whistled. "What's in there?"

Hidden in the secret compartment was a small, simple jewellery box resting there with no lock or key securing it as if the place it's in is hidden well enough to only be known about by one person. Estonia picked it up and opened it, holding his breath.

There's a white cardkey inside with the words "MASTER KEY – AUTHORISED USE ONLY" written on it.

"Oh my god, yes!" Estonia hissed excitedly and examined the card. It's authentic, alright.

"Holy shit," Denmark laughed. "Is it REALLY the master key for EVERY door in this island?"

"Electronic ones, at least, yes!" the other male exclaimed. "That's one obstacle done!"

* * *

><p>When they gathered altogether, Estonia showed his finding to Finland while lifting weights with his feet to build up strength.<p>

"That's amazing!" he gasped, almost dropping a weight.

"It is!" his Danish friend added, "now we can get to the more top-secret places of this island and find a way out!"

"AH!" Finland yelped. His eyes widened when he thought of something. "Dr Abe mentioned that there's a way to escape from this place that only HE has access to!"

Estonia's breath hitched. "Really?!"

"Yeah! It was before he died in front of me, he said that I won't be able to escape without his help! He mentioned something about an emergency boat!" Finland quickly clarified and the three males looked between each other with rising hope.

"We can escape…" Denmark murmured. While excitement built up in their hearts, regret and pain also filled in as they thought of Sweden, Norway and Iceland, possible eaten up completely or became zombies.

Finland saw the mix of conflicting thoughts in Denmark's face and leaned over, pulling him into a hug. Estonia breathed out and nodded understandably, hanging his head low.

"This island is the reason they died," Finland uttered and he felt Denmark nod in agreement, hugging him back. "I say we don't leave until all of those bastards are dead. Who know what could happen if a government got involved. The same tragedy could repeat itself, but on a massive scale."

Estonia sharply looked up. "Soome! You can't possibly be thinking…" Denmark also shot Finland a glance of growing horror, seeing how dark his eyes have become.

"But it's true, isn't it?" Finland muttered, "I'd rather that everything on this island gets wiped out apart from us than have all this information fall into the wrong hands. America could use the data to recreate Dr Abe's 'super soldiers' idea and accidentally create a pandemic judging from his history of fucking things up on a grand scale, Russia could recruit their spies to spike drinks of political opponents or jab them and if a parasite or virus of this kind breaks out in China, it'll wipe out the country in weeks. Islamists could try and become suicide-biters after drinking the serums to pass on the virus and create mass panic. All four scenarios are possible."

Estonia frowned, mind racking up all the possibilities. "And only certain people can get their hands on the vaccines to be completely protected."

"Exactly," the Finnish man murmured, "if I don't do this, then Ruotsi, Islanti and Norja would've all died in vain."

'_Your poor husband…'_ he heard Red whisper in his mind tauntingly,_ 'you've never even gotten around to making love with him.' _Finland's knuckled turned white from clutching the bedsheets below him and Denmark gently hugged him, bringing his mind back to reality before it could fall into darkness again.

"I'll do it with you," he suddenly declared, looking at him in the eyes. "It's what Norge would've wanted me to do. Sverige would want me to protect you, and I'm going to do that no matter what. Island would just want me to keep bloody going and not goof off right now and get shit done!" Finland chuckled at that.

"True…"

Estonia took a deep breath and stood up. "For you, Soome, I'll help you out until the end of the line."

"Eduard…" Finland breathed. Eyes stinging, he reached out and held his hand while leaning into Denmark's embrace. "Matthias… Thank you both."

"And what if any of us get attacked and killed?" Denmark suddenly asked.

"Then…" Finland took the gun from his pocket and put it on the bed for display with a grim expression. "I'd rather die than be taken hostage and see the world fall apart. I want to see it the way it is when I go. I'm tired of waking up in the middle of warfields."

"If you get bit, Estland, we'll have to shoot you," Denmark warned and the man paled.

"Hey!"

"So what's the first plan?" Finland suddenly asked. "Obviously, we can't just barge into things shooting everything up like in America's movies, so we need a plan…" Estonia rested his hand on his shoulder, taking a breath.

"Soome, there's something I need to tell you, something that I found out about from all the data I saw so far," Estonia began quietly, "these vaccines haven't been created just to create zombies, but for their possible application in extending human lifespans."

"Oh yeah, I guessed that already," Finland shrugged but Denmark suddenly stood up. "Denmark?"

He gave the other males the most intense stare.

"If that's true, then Sverige and Island could still be alive."

"Wh-what?" Finland gawped. Estonia watched them doubtfully.

"I know Island's been vaccinated because he reanimated, but I don't think he'd survive a big fall with a Type 3 zombie on top of him," he said sadly, but looked up in interest. "Was Rootsi bitten?"

"No!" Denmark answered, but smiled greatly, "but he was the one holding the bag of vaccines with him when we set out to escape! He had a fire axe on him too, so there's NO way that he wouldn't have ever thought of vaccinating himself if he got bitten!"

"Oh man!" Finland sucked in a breath. His heart swelled in hope. "So… Berwald could still be alive!"

'_You might have a chance to get laid with him after all this, after all!'_ his inner demon laughed. _'…If he wasn't blinded by Tanska attacking his face like he did!'_ Finland's face fell and his friends looked at him in concern.

"Finland?" Denmark spoke. He seems to know what Finland is thinking about. "He'll… I'm sure he's okay! Because it's Sverige we're talking about!" he said lamely, trying to sound upbeat.

Estonia glanced between them unsurely, knowing that he's missing something.

"What? What's wrong?"

Denmark and Finland made eye contact. Guilt filled the latter's mind and memories.

"…Sverige was talking shit about me and rubbish about him and Norge having sex," he started, "he did that so that I can get angry enough to not come back to rescue him. I took Finland with me and never looked back. I started beating him up and he didn't even put up a fight." Estonia groaned and pressed his face into his hand in disbelief.

"Your whole family is dysfunctional," he uttered.

"Yeah, well, I didn't exactly like being told how Sverige fucked my boyfriend!" the Dane spat, "you'd fuck up anyone too if they talked about their sex life with Fin in front of you!"

"I wouldn't," Estonia argued, seething, "because unlike SOME people, I don't act on my feelings and I respect my friend's private lives!"

Denmark growled. "What are you saying?"

"You know damn well what I'm saying!" the other male ranted, "you jump into fights without a second thought!"

"Viro, Tanska, that's enough!" Finland shouted and stepped in-between them before a fight could break out, "I say we hunt down every zombie in this island, and look for Sverige and Islanti, before we leave!"

"Soome," Estonia groaned, "look at us – we're not at all prepared for those plans! We still have to deal with all the guards in this place! They're more heavily armed than we are!"

"I'd rather that we die fighting than die hiding," Denmark argued, "besides – Estland managed to kill all those guards on the rooftop! His trap proves that we CAN take those bastards on!"

"Taani, that was on-the-spot thinking on my part," the bespectacled male said quietly, "I wouldn't have ever thought of something like that when I have lots of time to decide, it's only when I'm under pressure that I can REALLY think of great ideas!"

'_I still call BS on your friend's brainpower,'_ Finland heard Red laughed and the Finn suppressed a growl in favour for speaking up.

"Viro, we DON'T have time!"

"We don't?"

"No! Sooner or later, Dr Abe's men will come running when they realise that something's wrong!" Finland's voice escalated, "it's been ages now since they last made radio contact! We have to act and make up a plan now!"

"Think, Estland!" Denmark goaded and the third male grumbled.

"Okay, okay! Let me think!"

"I'm giving you 5 minutes, Specs!" Denmark then stood up, resting his hand on Finland's back, prompting him to walk with him. "We'll be in the office once you come up with a battle plan!"

Confused, Finland walked along with him into the office and watched as Denmark closed the door until it clicked and he turned to face him, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked suddenly.

"Uh… yes, I have," Finland said, glancing at his clothed legs. He could no longer feel any pain from the gunshot wounds that quickly healed up.

"That's not what I mean. I dunno how to explain it, but…" Denmark scratched the back of his neck, "you seem off. It's like you turned into a different person. I understand if it's because you got operated on, but I can see the difference in you." The Finn tried to contain his surprise at the idea of Denmark reading people's moods.

"I'm perfectly fine," he shrugs, "I mean, I've always lost people in the past, so death is nothing new to me."

Denmark examined his expression quietly, moving to sit on top of the desk. Being watched unnerved the other male.

"I swear, Tanska, I'm fine!" Finland's voice rose, "we'll kill all the zombies, destroy the laboratories and all evidence of zombie experimentation!"

"And then what?" Denmark asked.

"I—" Finland halted, just staring at the Dane. "We'll…"

He hasn't thought that far. All he focused on was destroying every zombie he could get his hands on. He lost his friends to those fiends. It's his personal mission and he'll do everything to achieve it. But as his gaze averted from the taller Nordic man, he tried to imagine life back home (assuming that they find this 'emergency' boat Dr Abe mentioned) living on his own in a large house. There'll be questions from leaders of the dead personifications too. They'll have to explain what happened to them. But Finland has the feeling that he wouldn't be believed if he said that Sweden, Iceland and Norway were eaten by zombies.

'_We could simply make up a cover story that the plane crashed into the sea and Tanska and I were the only survivors,'_ Finland's mind thought up and he heard Red hum in agreement, _'and then Viro received a distress call from my damaged mobile phone and he came to rescue us. It'll be a big story to tell, but that's more believable than the zombies part.'_

But thinking about life without Sweden weighed his heart down. No more hugs, no more soft kisses or being carried around in front of other nations. No more teasings from the older Nordic or shy smiles. Everything about the Swede, his personality and quirks, all died with him. And as those expired with him, so did a part of Finland that he gave his soul to.

It must be why Finland is feeling like having no regard for his own life anymore.

"I'll die in the end," he whispered. But Denmark narrowed his eyes and hopped off the desk, walking over to the Finn and reached out. Finland noticed his movement and quickly backed up, but Denmark did nothing apart from resting his hand on his cheek and tilting his head up to look at him.

"Finland, remember what I said back at the swimming pool…?" he began quietly, trying hard to make eye contact despite his friend looking at him directly. He's acting… awkward?

"Uhm…" he murmured, trying to think as clearly as possible.

"I mean before we found Iceland," Denmark quickly clarified, keeping his hand on his cheek, "like, that part about… if… you… if we… If we're the last ones alive, then we could have s-sex with each other?"

Unsurprisingly, Finland gawped at him. He remembered it now.

"'_Only after dinner and a LOT of vodka cocktails?'_" Denmark quoted sheepishly, "and then I said 'SCORE!' right after?"

"I remember that," the other male stared at him incredulously, "but I didn't think you were serious."

"I know, I was only kidding 'cause I knew you were married to Sve," the Dane said, withdrawing his hand. "But if you ever want to make a new start in life back home with me, as a friend or whatever, then I'm open to the idea. I'll do my best to take care of you. To be honest, Norge would be pissed if I don't move on. I'm not even ready to look at other men or women."

"Matthias…" Finland muttered, "I don't think I'll ever be ready to move on. Ruotsi… Berwald is the only one for me. Even when he's gone, I'll always want to be with him. I just want to carry out my mission and then end myself."

Hearing that wrought a heartbroken look on Denmark's face and shattered his heart.

"Finland, I'm all yours!" he blurted, "just be mine! Anything but dying! Dying's no joke! You may have never died for real before, but what do you think'll happen to me if you do that?!" He rushed over and seized Finland's shoulders. "Goddammit, Timo, can't you see how your death will affect me?!"

"Stop being selfish!" Finland shouted and tried to push him away, but Denmark caged him into a tight hug. "Let go!"

"No!" he heard the man cry into his shoulder, "if I do, you'll disappear just like Lukas!"

"I WANT to disappear! You can just carry on!"

"I won't let that happen!" Denmark suddenly declared darkly, letting go of him and held his face in his hands, "even if it means keeping you prisoner in my home, I won't let you die!"

"Tanska…" Finland mumbled worriedly, taking a slow step backwards.

_'He's lost it,'_ Red whispered in his mind, _'maybe you should kill him so he doesn't keep you prisoner. He'll fuck you good when you both get home. Force you to love him and forget about Berwald!'_

Before Denmark could say or do anything, the office door quickly opened and Estonia ran in with a bright smile. His expression dropped when he registered the sight of Denmark towering over a scared Finland.

"What just happened?" he asked warily.

"Nothing," Finland's voice wavered, "just… just a spat."

Denmark said nothing but huffed instead and turned away.

"Came up with a plan?" he said coldly without facing either of them.

"Y-yes, I have," Estonia said unsurely, "but it's going to be vital that everybody listens."

"What is it?" Finland asked and his friend smiled.

"It's going to be a very risky plan, but when us three work altogether, we'll accomplish anything! With my brains, Denmark's strength and your excellent marksmanship, we will soon clear this island of its evils and return home altogether! Let us discuss my plan in the Hospital Wing!" he said optimistically and left the room.

Denmark and Finland looked at each other. Daybreak may be hours away, but Estonia's bright smile almost convinced them that the whole world is there for them. Sealand is waiting for Finland and Prussia and America are waiting for Denmark. People may be waiting for the other three Nordics, but…

"Life is beautiful, Timo," Denmark muttered. "It may suck for a lot of people, but sometimes just existing makes a person's day. It feels like when you talk to someone, your soul goes to them. You give them a part of your life, and it stays with you forever. You're all I have left. Nothing will stop me from protecting you to the very end."

With that, Denmark left the office first while Finland simply watched his back as he walked away.


End file.
